UP elections: Recent exits will not have any impact on NDA, says Sanjay Nishad
UP elections: The recent exits will not have any impact on the NDA, Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party said.
Amid the desertions by OBC ministers and legislators in Uttar Pradesh, there is one leader from the community who is standing strong with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party commands a sizeable proportion of the OBC vote in the state that is said to around 45% of the total vote bank. He spoke to Sunetra Choudhury about the changing dynamics in the state. Edited excerpts:
Why are so many OBC leaders leaving the BJP?
They have some personal problems, like not getting a ticket of their choice, or some such. Just 15 days ago, they were on stage expressing their gratitude to the Prime Minister. When it comes to OBC leaders, the BJP has the maximum -- they are the ones who are CMs, and even the PM is one. I would find their complaints plausible if they resigned in the middle of their tenures, but they have done so when elections have been announced. So it’s convenient to enjoy their stints in power and quit now.
Would you admit that SP Maurya’s exit will impact the BJP? That he commands influence on 100 seats?
I am not sure that we can say that. Today, I know that the Maurya community gets a lot of respect, they have a deputy chief minister representing them, and they can get jobs without facing any discrimination. So why would they take their vote to the SP, which manipulated jobs for their own people? In this day and age, it’s not a leader that determines which way people vote, it is the party.
But didn’t another OBC party like yours, OP Rajbhar’s party, leave the BJP making the same allegations?
They left much earlier. At the moment, Dr Sanjay and Anupriya Patel are standing by the BJP for this alliance. The leaders who left can explain why they did it -- someone may say that no one listened to them, or that their road wasn’t made, or that some transfer wasn’t done according to their wishes. But you can’t run away, you have to fight for it like I do. I stand on the stage with Modi and tell him to that he has to solve the problems of the fishing community. Why should I go back to those governments who haven’t done anything for my community the SP, BSP and Congress governments? So, the exits will not have any impact on the NDA.
So, out of the votes in the OBC community, how much will these exits cost?
Other than the Yadav votes, all will come to us because they are all tired of the Samajwadi Party’s discrimination.
At the ticket distribution meeting for the UP elections today, did you demand the deputy CM position?
We didn’t go into specific positions but this was a suggestion by my community. If the BJP can make a tea-seller’s son the PM, make backward caste ministers, then they can do anything. What’s essential for us is to ensure that the livelihoods of our people is guaranteed.
