UP minister Sanjay Nishad breaks down at rally, demands SC status; Akhilesh Yadav takes jibe

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New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad on Sunday broke down at a rally in Gorakhpur while urging Nishad community people to unite earlier in the day. He led a motorcycle rally of around 3,000 riders just before addressing a state convention of the Nishad Party.

During his address, he became emotional, alleging injustice against his community. He said, “Our votes are being taken away. The dignity of our sisters and daughters is being violated. We need to become stronger.”

The fishing minister in the state emphasised that their community should be counted among the Scheduled Castes. Nishad accused previous governments of neglecting their community rights and said that the BJP follows the ideology of both Rama and Nishadraj.

He clarified that his party’s alignment with the BJP in the upcoming 2027 elections is centred on the reservation. He added that doors to the Samajwadi Party are closed; they abandoned the community’s demands.

Nishad acknowledged BJP’s efforts in honouring the community and emphasised that he remains the prime advocate for reservation. He added that earlier the perception was that BJP is anti-reservation, but they gave 10% reservation to the upper casts and 33% to women, so the accusation is completely false.

Akhilesh Yadav takes dig at Nishad

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has criticised Nishad after his emotional video went viral on social media. He directly linked his emotional scene to his alliance with the BJP and the politics of PDA. He shared the video of Nishad crying on his social media handle and wrote, “Are these tears of remorse for siding with the BJP or tears of atonement? The pain is increasing… the victims are increasing… that is why the PDA is growing.”

He directly sends a message through his attack to the leaders of the backward castes who are part of the BJP-led NDA that they are not getting the respect they deserve.