Akhilesh Yadav names another Nishad from Gorakhpur after BJP coup

LUCKNOW: A fringe caste-based party, NISHAD, is suddenly holding the key to the prestigious Gorakhpur constituency with Samajwadi Party chief swiftly fielding a Nishad leader in Yogi Adityanath’s backyard, a day after sitting MP Praveen Nishad, giant killer of 2018 bypoll, snubbed the SP-BSP alliance and cosied up to BJP.
In what can pan out as a Nishad versus Nishad battle in a constituency where a Rajput seer Yogi Adityanath held sway, SP nominated two-time MLA Ram Bhuwal Nishad from the seat on Saturday.
Hours later, Praveen Kumar said he will resign from Samajwadi Party and is scheduled to meet BJP national party president Amit Shah in Delhi, opening the doors for an alignment with the saffron party.
SP’s choice of Ram Bhuwal has not come as a surprise as the constituency has roughly 3.5 lakh Nishad voters which comes to around 15% of the electorate. Bhuwal Nishad was also minister for fisheries in the Mayawati cabinet in 2007.
Gorakhpur has essentially been a BJP fiefdom since 1991 when Mahant Avaidyanath won the Lok Sabha polls on the party ticket for the first time. In 1996, the seer retained the seat and for the next five elections, Gorakhpur elected Yogi Adityanath as their representative in the parliament. BJP’s sway over Gorakhpur came to an end in 2018 bypoll, necessitated by Yogi’s resignation as MP to continue as UP chief minister.
Till Friday evening, there was a strong indication that SP will field Praveen Nishad as the candidate from Gorakhpur and also offer Maharajganj to his father and NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad. The bone of contention, sources said, was NISHAD party wanted to contest both seats on their own symbol and SP was pressing for a merger.
On Friday, Sanjay Nishad announced the delay on SP’s part and the ambiguity on fielding NISHAD party candidates had left him with no option but to leave the gathbandhan. Within hours, he met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and a photograph of the meeting went viral on social media.