UP polls: BJP ally Sanjay Nishad downplays non-inclusion in Cabinet amid DyCM demand

Months after demanding the Deputy CM post for himself, Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad downplayed his non-inclusion in the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet. While Sanjeev Kumar, Dinesh Khatik, Paltu Ram, Dharmvir Prajapati, Dr. Sangeeta Balwant, Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar and Jitin Prasada were inducted into the UP Council of Ministers on September 26, Nishad was among 4 politicians who were nominated to the Legislative Council. Speaking to the media on Monday, Sanjay Nishad affirmed that his party will work towards ensuring NDA's victory in the upcoming UP polls irrespective of the seats it contests on.

The Nishad Party president remarked, "The Nishad Party has not been formed for MLC or Rajya Sabha. This party has been formed to raise the voice for the weak who don't have food, clothing and shelter since 70 years. BJP has given a platform to address this issue. I congratulate it". In the last few months, Sanjay Nishad has held a series of meetings with the BJP central leadership ostensibly to discuss issues such as fishing rights, Patta allotment rights and reservation for the Nishad community. 

Though the Nishad Party won UP CM Yogi Adityanath's pocket borough Gorakhpur in the 2018 Lok Sabha by-elections with the support of the Samajwadi Party, it stitched an alliance with BJP a year later. In the 2019 General Election, Sanjay Nishad's son Praveen Kumar Nishad contested on a BJP ticket and emerged victorious from the Sant Kabir Nagar constituency. On September 24, BJP formally announced an alliance with the Nishad Party and Apna Dal for the 2022 Assembly election. 

High-stakes battle for Uttar Pradesh

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. While this was seen as a mandate for PM Modi as BJP had not declared any CM candidate, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath was a surprise pick for the post. Though some BJP leaders made conflicting statements over Adityanath's future as the Chief Minister, PM Modi put rest to all speculations by lauding UP's governance model during his successive visits to the state.

Leaving no stone unturned for the 2022 Assembly election, BJP appointed Dharmendra Pradhan as its election in-charge and Anurag Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje, Annapurna Devi, Saroj Pandey and Vivek Thakur as the co-in-charges. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bhatia, Sanjeev Chaurasiya, Y Satya Kumar, Sudhir Gupta, Arvind Menon and Sunil Oza as the organizational in-charges of Western UP, Braj, Awadh, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Kashi. Providing representation to the SC, OBC and Brahmin community in the latest Cabinet reshuffle is being perceived as a significant move ahead of the UP polls.