BJP, Nishad Party to fight 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections together

BJP on Friday formally announced an alliance with the Nishad (Nirbal Indian Shoshit Humara Aam Dal) party led by Sanjay Nishad. BJP said it was also in talks with other small parties to fight the upcoming Uttar Pradesh 2022 assembly polls.

The announcement was made by education minister and UP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan in a joint press conference with Sanjay Nishad. Pradhan reiterated BJP's alliance with long time alliance partner Apna Dal (S) too.

While he did not divulge details on seat sharing, Pradhan said the Nishad party will be given a "respectable" number of seats. In an earlier interaction with ET, Nishad had said there are 70 seats where the party has a strong organisation and where it stands to win a significant number of votes. In 2017, the BJP had given a total of 19 seats to its two allies-Apna Dal(S) and the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Formed in 2016, the NISHAD party had contested 100 seats on its own, and won in 1.


Pradhan said the 2022 elections will be fought under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Asked whether the party will also try to bring back estranged partner OP Rajbhar or tie up with other smaller parties, Pradhan said, "Our UP leadership is in talks with other partners and any information regarding it will be shared at the right time." Party sources said that the BJP was open to tying up with more like-minded parties to strengthen the party further.

A highly placed BJP source also said a decision regarding the awaited cabinet expansion exercise in UP should be announced within this month.