Hours before the Union cabinet expansion took place in the capital on Wednesday, 7 July, Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad demanded a berth for his son Praveen Nishad, who is a BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar.
In a video message, Sanjay said that the Nishad community wields influence in over 160 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.
"If Anupriya Patel can be inducted into the Union ministry, Praveen also deserves a place. In 2019, BJP got Nishad votes on 40 seats," he said.
He added that he had already spoken to BJP president JP Nadda and it was now up to the BJP to take a decision.
According to an NDTV report, the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) has one MLA in the UP Legislative Assembly.
The report stated Praveen had won the Gorakhpur seat in a bypoll as a Samajwadi Party candidate after Yogi Adiyanath was elected as Chief Minister.
“Our alliance with the BJP will continue. We were with the BJP, we are with them today, and we shall stay with it. However, our community is moving away from the BJP. The Congress, the SP, and the BSP have cheated our community and now it feels that the BJP is also cheating them,” reported NDTV, quoting Sanjay.
(With inputs from IANS)
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