Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party’s Gorakhpur candidate, Rambhual Nishad, has alleged that the sitting Gorakhpur MP and the Nishad party have struck a deal with UP CM Yogi Adityanath for Rs 50 crore.
Rambhual accused that the Nishad party – after having ended the alliance with SP – met with UP CM Yogi Adityanath to join the saffron party bandwagon.
“There was a deal. Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad took Rs 50 crore from BJP to become a part of the party. He had a deal with Yogi ji,” Rambhual told news agency ANI.
The SP announced their Gorakhpur candidate after its ally Nishad party ended the alliance ahead of the Polls on March 30.
Rambhual Nishad has been a two-time MLA from Kaudiram Assembly seat which he lost in 2012. He was with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) before and was also the fisheries minister. A resident from Badhalganj in Gorakhpur, Rambhual, it is believed, commands a significant influence over the Nishad community.
Speaking to News18 over the phone, Rambhual Nishad said, “Just a few days back the workers and leaders of Nishad party were beaten up by the police on orders of the current administration. Now, all of a sudden they are meeting CM Yogi Adityanath. Sanjay Nishad is taking donations from people and is promising them jobs when he comes in power. The BJP has donated Rs 50 crore to them. They only know better if they had taken it in party fund or personally.”
The SP candidate from Gorakhpur has accused the chief minister of neglecting the development of the constituency during his tenure as MP. “There has been no development during the Yogi Adityanath regime as MP, people here never got their due respect,” he said.
“This has never been the seat of Yogi Adityanath, people here were scared of using political and religious influence. The strategy by SP Chief Akhilesh and the dissent of people resulted in the win of SP candidate during by-polls,” added Rambhual.
On the question of being addressed a history-sheeter by BJP leader, Rambhual Nishad said, “Why only me, our respected Chief Minister also has cases on him in serious sections of the IPC. I belong to a backward caste so all the laws are applicable for me; the first arms license which was revoked in the district was mine. All the cases on me were politically motivated and people know it well.”
Ahead of the polls, Rambhual displays much confidence in his performance. “We are winning the Gorakhpur seat by a margin of 2 lakh votes. Nobody knows about Pravin Nishad, he is zero in terms of politics,” he declared.
Hours after the Nishad Party chief, Sanjay Nishad announced to part ways from the SP-BSP alliance and held talks with UP CM Yogi Adityanath, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav named his party's candidates for Gorakhpur and Kanpur Lok Sabha constituencies. Both the candidates belong to the Nishad community.
The SP list was issued at a time when the sitting SP MP from Gorakhpur, Pravin Nishad, who emerged as a giant killer defeating the BJP in Adityanath’s home turf, gave signs of switching sides to the BJP on Friday evening.
The Nishad Party on Friday said that it was free to “look for other options.” During Sanjay’s meeting with the CM, his son and the incumbent Gorakhpur MP was also present, as was UP Minister Siddharth Nath Singh.
Announcing the end of the alliance with the SP-BSP, Sanjay submitted that Akhilesh had not put his party’s name on any campaign poster or party letter. “My party workers were upset with this. So the Nishad Party has taken a decision today that we are not with the 'gathbandhan’ anymore,” he had told News18.
The Nishad-Yogi Adityanath meeting has triggered speculations that the two parties would soon enter into a deal. However, no announcement has been made yet.
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