NISHAD party chief upset over son’s exclusion from Modi ministry

Chief of Nirbal Indian Shoshit Humara Aam Dal (Nishad) party, Sanjay Nishad vented his frustration at BJP for not inducting his son, BJP MP Praveen Nishad, into the central ministry on Wednesday while Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (S) was selected.

“I just want to say that in 2018, Praveen Nishad had beat Yogi ji in Gorakhpur and later looking at his popularity we had come together with BJP in 2019...if Anupriya Patel (who represents Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh) can get a seat, then the party which has an influence in 160 assembly seats should also be given one,” Nishad said after the list of 43 MPs who took the oath as ministers later on Wednesday was released. “I had told Nadda ji that anyway the community is getting disillusioned with the BJP and a representation might help,” he said.

According to party insiders, however, the decision to leave Praveen Nishad out of Cabinet reshuffle may mean higher chances of Sanjay Nishad getting a state Cabinet berth. He can be made a member through the MLC route, they said.


The Yogi Cabinet is expected to be expanded and decisions regarding new inductees will hinge on the central reshuffle that is considered crucial for Uttar Pradesh ahead of assembly polls next year.

Praveen Nishad had earned his reputation when contesting on a SP ticket he beat BJP candidate from Yogi Adityanath’s bastion in Gorakhpur in 2018 Lok Sabha bypolls. To be sure, AD(S) has nine MLAs in the UP assembly while Nishad party’s only MLA in the assembly was suspended in 2018. Therefore, it is not technically a BJP ally in the state assembly.

However, the party claims to have brought to BJP the support of close to 20% of the state’s population on a yet-unfulfilled promise that the Nishad community, currently clubbed under the OBC category, will get reservation as a scheduled caste.