Ending speculations about rift with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad on Friday clarified that his party will not contest the upcoming assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.
Instead, we will campaign for BJP candidates to ensure their victory, Nishad, also a UP cabinet minister, told media persons. Of nine assembly seats where bypolls are scheduled for November 13, the Nishad party was demanding Katehari and Majhawan assembly seats. However, the party was denied these seats.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak was sitting next to Sanjay Nishad when he made the announcement at a joint press conference.On the issue of two seats which the party was demanding, Nishad said: “My contention was only to ensure victory on these two seats and nothing else. At times, we have to compromise in the larger interests.”
He asserted that the Nishad party was formed to keep the Congress and the Samajwadi Party out of power. “Therefore, we will ensure NDA’s victory in this bypoll,” Nishad added.
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said the BJP and its alliance partners will together contest the bypolls to ensure victory on all nine seats. Pathak had played a prominent role in pacifying Nishad who was adamant on contesting Katehari and Majhawan seats.
{{/usCountry}}Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said the BJP and its alliance partners will together contest the bypolls to ensure victory on all nine seats. Pathak had played a prominent role in pacifying Nishad who was adamant on contesting Katehari and Majhawan seats.
{{/usCountry}}Nishad had camped in New Delhi for several days to get his demand fulfilled. Both Pathak and other deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya were summoned by the party high command to New Delhi to resolve the issue.
In the 2022 UP assembly polls, the Nishad party, in alliance with the BJP, fielded Awadhesh Kumar from Katehari.
He was defeated by SP candidate Lalji Verma. Verma was elected the SP MP from Ambedkar Nagar in 2024 Lok Sabha election leaving Katehari seat vacant.Similarly, in Mirzapur district’s Majhawan, the Nishad party candidate Vinod Kumar Bind had defeated Samajwadi Party’s Rohit Shukla.
However, Bind was later elected as the BJP MP from the Bhadohi parliamentary constituency, leaving the Majhawan seat vacant. In the 2022 assembly polls, the Nishad party had contested 10 seats on its symbol as an ally of the BJP winning six of them.