Lucknow: Nishad Party President and Uttar Pradesh cabinet Minister, Sanjay Nishad, has asked his party workers not to attend meetings and events organised by other parties in Uttar Pradesh. The directive comes amid reports that the Samajwadi Party (SP) is wooing Nishad candidates in accordance with its 'Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak' (PDA) formula.
Nishad, an ally of the BJP, has been camping in Delhi to negotiate for one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh for his party. The delay in announcing a seat for the Nishad Party is apparently making the party leaders restive even though Sanjay Nishad has said that he will continue to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi even if he is not given a seat.
Nishad Party state Chief, Ravindra Mani Nishad, has accused the SP of trying to split the party by promising Lok Sabha tickets to its office-bearers. He has appealed to "have faith in top leadership and continue to strengthen the party". While BJP's other allies in Uttar Pradesh -- RLD, Apna Dal (Secular) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) -- have got their share of seats, Nishad Party is still waiting for a reply.
Sanjay Nishad has said that his priority was to have his party's symbol getting a representation in Parliament. Nishad Party has been campaigning extensively in at least 27 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh which, he claims, have a sizeable Nishad population. Sanjay Nishad is an MLC and a cabinet Minister while his elder son Pravin Nishad is the BJP candidate from Sant Kabir Nagar Lok Sabha seat and his younger son Sarvan Nishad is a BJP MLA from Chauri Chaura seat in Gorakhpur. The party contested the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on its symbol for the first time and won six seats.
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