Lucknow, Jan 13 (PTI) Nishad Party chief and Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad on Tuesday said that his son Praveen Nishad lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Sant Kabir Nagar not due to the strength of the Samajwadi Party but due to the betrayal from “within”, and suggested that the BJP sideline such elements.
The minister said his Nishad community not only knows how to catch fish in rivers and ponds, but also “how to make and unmake governments”.
He was speaking at an event here to mark the party’s 13th ‘Sankalp Diwas’, which was attended by BJP leaders including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, and Uttar Pradesh deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. The day is celebrated to mark Nishad’s entry into politics.
Referring to the defeat of his son Praveen, Sanjay Nishad said, “He did not lose… rather, he was deliberately defeated, and those responsible would be taught a lesson.” He urged the BJP to “identify and sideline” internal elements responsible for the defeat, saying that “it was not due to the strength of the Samajwadi Party but because of betrayal from within that Praveen lost”.
He emphasised that the Nishad community is not anyone’s vote bank.
“We do not only know how to catch fish in rivers and ponds; we also know how to make and unmake governments. After the emergence of the Nishad Party, the Nishad community has realised this truth,” he said.
The Nishad Party’s ‘Sankalp Diwas’ marked an important milestone in its political journey. The Rashtriya Nishad Ekta Parishad was formed on this day in 2013, when Sanjay Nishad formally entered politics, and later evolved into the Nishad Party in 2016 In his address, Nishad alleged that leaders of their community — Phoolan Devi, Jamuna Nishad, Mahendra Singh Rajput, Dhaniram Verma and Manohar Lal Nishad — were “used by previous governments for their selfish interests and were later eliminated”.
He demanded CBI inquiries into the “murders of Veerangana Phoolan Devi and Late Jamuna Nishad ji”.
In his address, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju described the BJP-Nishad Party ties as a family alliance, noting that Sanjay Nishad, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Prime Minister Narendra Modi come from poor and backward backgrounds.
He assured that all issues of the Nishad Party are also the BJP’s issues and would be resolved together, with full support from Delhi.
He highlighted the leading role of OBC and SC-ST communities in nation-building.
Deputy chief ministers Maurya and Pathak noted that the Nishad party has always prioritised the struggle for the fisherfolk community.
They described the Nishad Party as “the largest party of the poor and marginalised” in Uttar Pradesh and said that “Nishad friendship is inseparable from the idea of Ram Rajya”.
In his address, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader and Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar criticised the Samajwadi Party, claiming it had said that “they could secure votes from the Nishad community by intoxicating them”.
He stressed that if the Nishad Party and SBSP unite, no party can form a government without their support, and predicted that the Samajwadi Party would be reduced to its original status by 2027.
He asserted that rights over sand mining and contracts of reservoirs, rivers and ponds should belong exclusively to the Nishad community, accusing previous governments of looting these rights.
He said Sanjay Nishad was the “true leader” who alone can secure justice for the community. PTI ABN KIS RT RT
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