The BJP on Friday announced that the party will contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election in alliance with Sanjay Nishad-led Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD). Assembly election in the state is scheduled for next year.
Uttar Pradesh BJP president Swatantra Dev announced this at a joint press conference along with Sanjay Nishad. Swatantra Dev said that the cadres of the BJP and NISHAD will ensure lotus blooms in Uttar Pradesh once again.
Nishad represents the Other Backward Class (OBC) fishing community of Uttar Pradesh. Union minister and election in charge of the BJP Dharmendra Pradhan was also present when the BJP officially announced the alliance.
Dharmendra Pradhan said that people have responded to their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But leaders did not disclose anything about the seat-sharing. reportedly, the matter of seat-sharing is being discussed and it will be finalized later on.
After Apna Dal, the NISHAD is the second regional party the BJP has patterned with for the 2022 assembly poll of Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP joining hands with Sanjay Nishad is a well-calculated move owing to the sizable presence of the fisherman community, also called Nishad, in around 160 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The Nishad community constitutes 18 per cent of the total OBC population of Uttar Pradesh. Notably, the Nishad community comprises 22 sub-castes and is considered quite dominant in districts like Mau, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Santkabir Nagar and Prayagraj and others.
Sanjay Nishad had won the Gorakhpur parliamentary seat in 2018 during the by-poll. He won the seat as the joint candidate of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. He allied with the BJP during the 2019 parliamentary elections. The BJP is also likely to offer him an MLC seat.
During the press conference, Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to double the income of farmers adding that farmers have extended their blessings to the BJP.
