BJP ally, UP minister hints bulldozer ‘misuse’ behind poll setback: ‘Uproot poor, and they will uproot you’

Nishad’s comments follow statements by other leaders of the BJP and its allies expressing unhappiness over the state administration’s functioning, holding it responsible for the party tumbling from 62 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP to 33. Nishad’s son and sitting Sant Kabir Nagar MP Praveen Nishad was among those who lost.

While Nishad sought to blame “officials working for the Samajwadi Party and BSP” for the “misuse of bulldozers” in his remarks, hours later, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath put up an official post on X regarding ongoing demolitions for the Kukrail River Revival Project in Lucknow, which have been marked by protests. He assured that private houses on private land would not be demolished for the project and that “guilty officers” would be held accountable.

Speaking to reporters, Nishad said that bulldozers are meant to tackle the “mafia” or to make roads, not to raze the accommodation of “a poor woman who has been living at the same place for 90 years and has no other place to live”. “Mahaul waise hi kharab hai. Uspe adhikari aur kharab kar de rahe hain (The environment is already unfavourable. On top of it, the officials are making it worse),” Nishad said.

The NISHAD Party chief gave the example of a woman who, he said, lodged a rightful complaint against the pradhan of her village in Jaunpur district, and then found her house demolished. “Bulldozer gareebon par chalane ka nuksaan hai. Mafiyon pe chalana chahiye (There is a cost to be paid in using bulldozers against the poor. They should be used against the mafia),” he said.

Even if it is for development purposes, the Minister for Fisheries said, care should be taken to ensure that the poor are properly rehabilitated first. This was not happening, he said.

Nishad, who met Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday, also supported the latter’s statement at a recent working committee meeting of the BJP that “the sangathan (party organization) is bigger than the sarkar (government)”. “Any government is based on the ideology of a party. It is the worker who does the hard work. The worker of the party is bigger than any government as political power, public power and public mandate all come with him,” Nishad said, in an apparent reference to the concentration of powers under the Adityanath government.

Earlier, another BJP ally and Union Minister of State Anupriya Patel, the chief of the Apna Dal (S), had publicly shared a letter she wrote to CM Adityanath, expressing concerns about government jobs reserved for OBCs and SCs ending up with general category applicants in Uttar Pradesh.

Adityanath’s statement on Tuesday regarding demolitions for the Kukrail project followed viral videos on social media of residents protesting against the prospect of their houses being razed, and the Opposition taking up the issue.

In the statement on X, the CM said: “Be it Pantnagar or Indraprasthanagar, in Lucknow, the safety and satisfaction of every resident is our responsibility. Families affected by the Kukrail River Revival Project should be rest assured of that.” He also asked the officials concerned to meet the people of the area to allay their fears.

The CM pointed out that the marking of the land as floodplain was being done as per the NGT’s directions, and that private buildings on private land would be acquired, if needed, only after giving due compensation. “Protection of the interests of every citizen, their satisfaction and convenience are the top priority of the government,” he said.