UP 2022: BJP Announces Alliance With Nishad Party

BJP Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election In-Charge Dharmendra Pradhan, on Friday (24 September), announced an alliance with Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) Party for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2022.

Pradhan said that the BJP always had an alliance with the Nishad Party, and today its official announcement was being made. He informed that a respectable mutual decision on seat-sharing with the Nishad Party has been made and will be announced at the right time. Along with this, many other parties are also in contact with us, he added.

Many believe that the Nishad Party is likely to get more than ten seats from the BJP to contest in 2022, in a Vidhan Sabha of 403 seats.

"The BJP had worked for the proliferation of all sections of the society, and thus I believe that the lotus will once again bloom in the state", asserted Pradhan.

The BJP leadership appears to appreciate the importance of the Nishad party and was thus invested in this alliance. Not only the state-level leaders but also the National President JP Nadda himself, Home Minister Amit Shah and National General Secretary Organization BL Santosh held several meetings with the Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad to forge a formidable alliance.

The breach of BJP's stronghold in Gorakhpur

In the 2018 Lok Sabha by-election in UP, Praveen Nishad, son of Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad, contested on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket from the Gorakhpur seat, which became vacant after five-time MP Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister of the state.

Praveen Nishad managed to secure a victory in CM Yogi's bastion against the BJP candidate with a margin of 21,961 votes. It was a staggering upset for the BJP as the party lost the seat after almost two and a half decades.

However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Praveen left the SP and joined the BJP and was elected MP from Sant Kabir Nagar on a BJP ticket.

Strong influence in eastern UP

The coming together of the BJP and Nishad Party will strengthen the alliance in Purvanchal. The Nishad community has a sizable population in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region. Sanjay Nishad claims that the Nishads, with their votes, can ensure victory or defeat in more than 100 assembly seats of the state.

The Nishad party, formed in the year 2016, is considered to have a significant influence in eastern UP, especially among the Nishad, Kewat, Mallah, Beldar and Bind castes, which constitute up to 17 per cent of the population in many districts of Purvanchal.

There are more than five lakh Nishad voters in Gorakhpur city and Bansgaon Lok Sabha constituency's Gorakhpur Shahar, Gorakhpur Rural, Pipraich, Campierganj, Chaurichaura, Sahajnawan and Bansgaon assembly constituencies. Nishad voters also have considerable influence on various seats of Mirzapur, Sant Kabirnagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Bhadohi and Chandauli.

Considerable influence, but limited electoral success

The Nishad Party contested 72 seats in the 2017 UP Assembly. The party tasted victory only in Bhadohi district's Gyanpur seat. The party got 48,141 votes in the Malhani seat of Jaunpur. Sanjay Nishad, who contested from Gorakhpur Rural, got 34,869 votes only.

The party got a total of 5,40,539 votes in the elections. More than 10 thousand votes were polled in favour of the party in Paniyara, Campierganj, Sahajnawan, Khajni, Tumkahinraj, Bhadohi and Chandauli.

Nishad Party also contested 12 seats in Chhattisgarh and 36 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the previous assembly elections in these states. There was not much success there, although the BJP was defeated wherever it fought.

At present, the Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal) Party has one MLA in the UP Legislative Assembly.

Demand of Nishad Reservations

Sanjay Nishad has been vocal about the rights of the Nishads, especially the demand of reservation for 14 most backward castes as Scheduled castes. The party's other demands include lease of river and pond to fishermen etc.

While Sanjay Nishad has earlier said that it is his "community's desire" that he be made the deputy chief minister of UP, the specific terms and conditions of the current alliance, are yet to be made public by both parties.