JOIN USNishad community wants to see me as deputy CM if NDA wins 2022 UP Assembly polls: Sanjay Nishad
Nishad Party president Sanjay Nishad has claimed that his community wants him to be made the deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh if a BJP-led alliance wins the state assembly elections next year.
He also said the BJP was pushed to the fourth spot in the UP panchayat polls because the Nishad community is angry with the party for not fulfilling its promise of granting reservation to it.
Sanjay Nishad was speaking to reporters here on Sunday during a party programme.
"It is the demand of the (Nishad) community that I am made the deputy chief minister (of UP). The chief minister is from a community that has fewer numbers. Our numbers are more. If the BJP puts up our face, then it will easily form the government in the state. We are friends who are partners in good and bad times," he said.
Asked if the BJP will accept his demand to be made the deputy CM, Sanjay Nishad said, if the BJP feels that it will gain by granting reservation to the Nishad community, it will accept the demand. If the BJP feels that it will face a loss by granting reservation to the Nishad community, then the party may meet the same fate as it did in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Sanjay Nishad further said, "Our alliance with the BJP will continue. We were with the BJP, we are with the BJP today as well, and we will stay with it. However, our community is moving away from the BJP. The Congress, the SP and the BSP have cheated our community and now it feels that the BJP is also cheating them."
The intention of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was right earlier and he had even promised to grant reservation to the Nishad community. "There is a BJP government at the Centre now but there is no discussion on the reservation," he said.
"It was due to the anger of our community that the BJP was pushed to the fourth spot in the panchayat elections. I want that the community gets reservation at the earliest and cases registered against them are withdrawn," he added.
Asked about his next step if the BJP does not accept his demand to be made the deputy CM, Sanjay Nishad said, "The community will decide on this. The BJP has seen our strength in Gorakhpur. The BJP lost the bye-election to Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency when Yogi Adityanath was the chief minister."
Responding to a question about the possibility of a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party in the future, Sanjay Nishad said he was with the SP earlier but the party did not give him any chance.
Currently, the NISHAD party has one MLA in the UP Legislative Assembly. Sanjay Nishad's son Praveen is the BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar.