Nishad Party Always Brings Earthquakes in UP Politics, Says Party Chief’s Son

Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district is remembered in history books for the incident in 1922 when fire was opened at freedom fighters, who burnt down the police station here, killing policemen, and Mahatma Gandhi had to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement.

This region of Purvanchal has also a good presence of Nishads, and the Nishad Party is now a BJP ally. In Chauri Chaura, Nishad Party supremo Sanjay Nishad’s younger son, Sarvan Kumar, 31, is contesting his first election against a Samajwadi Party candidate who is a former pilot of GoAir Airlines, Brajesh Pasi.

“We got 16 seats, out of which 11 are being fought from Nishad Party symbol and five from the BJP symbol. I am myself contesting on a BJP ticket. UP’s 160 seats have strong a presence of Nishads,” Sarvan Nishad told News18 in Chauri Chaura. His elder brother, Praveen Nishad, had shocked all by defeating the BJP in the Lok Sabha by-poll in Gorakhpur in 2018, backed by the SP.

Praveen Nishad is now the BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar. “Nishad Party always brings earthquakes in politics and this time a big win for the BJP will come in UP as we are in alliance with the BJP. The Nishad voter is directly connected with the Nishad Party. Earlier, this voter was unconscious and other parties used them, terming them as saleable. Since we have come into existence, Nishad voters are aware and the results were seen in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” Sarvan Nishad says.

In the nearby Junglerasool village in Chauri Chaura, Nishads say their community plays a bigger role in making the UP government. “Nishads have always been Lord Ram bakhts. Lord Ram and Nishad Raj were friends and hence Nishads always remain connected with a party that has aaastha with Lord Ram which is the BJP,” the village Pradhan, Ram Sewak Nishad said.

Nishads have long demanded inclusion in the Scheduled Caste category as they are part of OBCs currently. However, another local, Ramesh, says if education improves, then reservation may also be needed but is not “that important”. “Reservation is not a big issue, if one studies well, they will get good jobs,” Ramesh says. Other locals, Balram and Ram Adhar, say with Ram Mandir being made and Nishads getting government benefits, “Nishads are completely satisfied with the BJP.”

The Samajwadi Party here has given a ticket to former GoAir pilot Brajesh Pasi, who is from the Pasi community, which has a significant voter population here too. “The SP will be wiped out — in villages, people are driving away the SP. They kept villages in the dark without electricity and gobbled up rations. The pilot candidate against me from the SP is hawa-hawai and will remain up in air,” Sarvan Nishad told News18.

The SP camp, however, says it will be a close fight here.

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