BJP ally in U.P. pushes SC status demand for riverine community, Opposition questions timing

With less than one year left for the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, the demand for Scheduled Caste (SC) status for Nishad and other related sub-castes gained momentum. Nishad Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad) party president and Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad pushed for Scheduled Caste (SC) inclusion of the riverine communities in the list, calling it the right and vowing to fight for it. 

Addressing a rally on March 22, in Gorakhpur he said, “Our population should be counted among Scheduled Castes. This is our constitutional right. I will fight for this come what may. Our votes are being taken away. We need to become stronger.”

The Fisheries Minister added that deliberations are ongoing with the Union government as well as the BJP-led State government for the reservation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath are serious on our demands, he said.

Mr. Nishad hit out at previous governments alleging that the Samajwadi Party denied them access to education, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) impacted livelihood of Nishad and other riverine centric castes. “They (SP and BSP) cheated our community; they never gave us opportunities at all,” said Mr. Nishad, who broke down on stage during the rally, pressing for the demand, threatening resignation. The Minister vowed to hold rallies in districts of Varanasi, Meerut and Prayagraj, in support of the demand.

The Congress accused the Minister for cheating the Nishad community, adding that only before elections they push for the demands. “People like Sanjay Nishad know that Nishad and allied castes are not with them. In the 2024 parliamentary polls, these communities supported INDIA alliance, these social groups are aware that the BJP-led NDA is damaging them in all sectors and snatching their basic right of livelihood. Sanjay Nishad are agents of the BJP, hence the community will never support him. If he is serious about the demand, he must resign from the Cabinet as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has failed to concede to the demand till now,” said Anil Yadav, a senior U.P. Congress leader. 

The Samajwadi Party (SP) said people like Sanjay Nishad should introspect about the kind of politics they support and should join hands with forces of justice and marginalized. “It is time of introspection for people like Sanjay Nishad, that whom they are supporting. If Sanjay Nishad stands with the cause of justice, he should support PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak) acronym for Backwards, Dalit and Minority idea of our leader Akhilesh Yadav. The reality is the BJP has troubled the Nishad community in the last nine years through wrong policies,” said Sunil Singh Yadav ‘Sajan’, the SP spokesperson.