Uttar Pradesh govt moves to ensure Nishad quota in wake of BJP ally's demand as polls loom

In wake of BJP ally Sanjay Nishad's demand ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, the Yogi Adityanath-led government started the  process of ensuring reservation for the Nishad community.

On Monday, UP Special Secretary Rajnish Chandra wrote a letter to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, raising Nishad's grievance regarding the people belonging to the Majhwar caste which is mentioned at number 53 in the list of Scheduled Castes of the UP government. The NISHAD party chief alleged that people of the Majhwar caste using surnames such as Nishad, Kewat and Mallah are not treated as SCs.

Maintaining that this violates the Constitutional provisions, Nishad contended that there should be no problem in such category of persons being issued the SC caste certificate. Chandra sought the immediate guidance of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India on this demand. This comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a joint rally of the NISHAD party and BJP in Lucknow on December 17, in which the former promised to fulfill all the demands of the Nishad community. 

Here is the UP government's letter: 

While BJP formally announced its tie-up with NISHAD party on September 24, Sanjay Nishad continued to pile the pressure on the ruling dispensation to grant reservation to the Nishad community. For instance, he threatened to exit the alliance and made it clear that the people from his community will not cast their vote in the UP polls unless they are provided reservation. Moreover, he warned that his party will stage protests across the state in this regard. 

Sanjay Nishad left out of Cabinet

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.

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.

While he initially demanded the Deputy CM post for himself, Nishad downplayed his non-inclusion in the UP government after the Cabinet expansion that took place on September 26.

Speaking to the media on September 27, the Nishad Party president said, "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 for 70 years. BJP has given a platform to address this issue. I congratulate it.'