GORAKHPUR: Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad broke down in tears during a public rally on Sunday in Gorakhpur, prompting a sharp response from Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav.Addressing a large crowd, an emotional Nishad accused opposition parties of supporting criminals, contrasting it with the “bulldozer” justice he said he highlighted in the Assembly.He urged people to “vote out” those who have harmed the Nishad community, claiming that the BSP and SP are attempting to claim a share of the community’s votes.“When your daughters’ honour is taken away, this opposition stands with the accused. When I raise my voice in the House, then bulldozers are used against the accused and your daughter gets justice. Upper-caste people are not taking their share. The SP and BSP are doing it. You pressed the elephant button, and your livelihood was taken away,” he said. The minister expressed his gratitude to chief minister Yogi Adityanath for raising the concerns of the Nishad community in the Assembly, emphasising that “Nishads should get their rights.”Nishad says, “I was with the Samajwadi Party, they closed the door for me. The issue of reservation is our party’s issue. They (BJP) have done very good work; Prime Minister Modi is giving respect, they are working to bring our people into the mainstream of development…Our party is with the BJP. We had said earlier, too, that even when everyone had left, we were with the BJP. We have been making the BJP win since 2019. The BJP should think about that.” Nishad’s emotional display quickly drew a response from Akhilesh Yadav, who took to X to question the sincerity of the tears and added a sarcastic remark.“Are these tears of remorse for joining the BJP, or of atonement? The pain is increasing, the sufferers are multiplying, that’s why the PDA is growing. The public is saying that the song we hear in the background of this video–is it our illusion or the truth: ‘Hum the Jinke Sahare Wo Huye Na Hamare,” Yadav said in his post. PDA is the SP party’s ideology, which refers to working for “Pichchde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak” (Backwards Classes, Dalits, and Minorities).Speaking in Gorakhpur, Sanjay Nishad announced plans for a large-scale celebration of the birth anniversary of ‘Nishad Raj’, alleging that previous governments had deliberately marginalised the Nishad community.“Since we are a Scheduled Caste in the Constitution, an order should be issued to count us in the Scheduled Caste. In 2013, when the Samajwadi Party was in power, education was snatched. If anyone has raised the voice of the Nishads, it is CM Yogi Adityanath,” he said. (With agency inputs)
