LucknowJul 8, 2025 09:29 IST
First published on: Jul 8, 2025 at 08:00 IST
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WHEN THE BJP can resolve all difficult issues – be it Article 370 or building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya – what is holding it back from providing Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation to the Nishad community, the ruling party’s ally and Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad told The Indian Express.
The state Fisheries Minister, who is also the NISHAD Party chief, said the BJP should fulfil the long-pending demand soon or it may face “difficulties” in the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Nishads, a boating and fishing community, are currently counted among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state.
“The thing is that the BJP has found solutions to all difficult issues, be it Article 370 or 10 per cent upper caste reservation (for the economically backward in general category) even when it was not promised in the Constitution, women reservation and even on the topic of faith i.e. construction of Ram Temple. So what is keeping it from fulfilling its promise to the fishermen community?” said Nishad.
The minister said the BJP had promised SC reservation to Nishad sub-castes because of which he aligned with it but now it is becoming difficult for him to convince his community about the long delay despite being in the government.
“We are only part of the government, that is all. Actual decision-making lies with the BJP, which had come out with its separate vision for the Nishad community…,” he said.
“BJP yahi kehke layi thi, SP aur BSP ne galat kiya. Par jo Bhagwan ko paar utarne wale hain, weh apna hissa mang rahe hain. Hum jawab nahin de pa rahe hain (The BJP had brought us along saying that the SP and BSP did wrong. But now the community which helped Lord [Ram] is asking for its rights, and we are unable to answer them),” said Nishad, who has for long been raising the demand for SC reservation for 17 sub-castes of the community.
The delay in giving SC quota to the Nishads, Sanjay Nishad said, had resulted in the shifting of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the community fell for the “false promises of the SP”. And if this continued, it would make things difficult for the BJP and allies in the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, he said.
“The Nishad community constitutes 18 per cent of Uttar Pradesh. They voted for us in 2019 on this promise. But in 2024, the INDIA bloc was able to take their votes with false promises and if this continues then the community would distance itself,” he said. “BJP jaldi ise door kare nahi to 2027 mein mushkil ho sakta hai (The BJP should resolve this soon or there might be difficulties in 2027).”
In the 2022 Assembly elections, the NISHAD party, in alliance with BJP, was able to win six Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh but failed to win a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Nishad community is primarily found in regions alongside rivers, especially in eastern and central Uttar Pradesh, including areas surrounding Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, and Varanasi, among others.