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Calling himself a “helpless leader of the present system”, UP Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, chief of the NISHAD Party and a BJP ally, has blamed “overconfidence about the works done by Modiji” and “failure to get the work of the public done” as contributing factors to the BJP-led NDA’s lower-than-expected showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Nishad said, “My community gets angry at me for failing to work for them. I tell them I stand for them strongly and for the issues that we strongly believe in, but iss samay ki vyavastha ka majboor neta hoon (I am a helpless leader of the present system).”
On the reasons that led to this situation, Nishad said, “A clear reason is that officers are directly linked to the Chief Minister’s Office. The postings, transfers are all done from there. Earlier, the tradition was such that if a minister writes to a DM against an officer who is not doing work, then immediately that officer was transferred. There was a fear of public representatives, of those who represent voters of their constituencies. But today we cannot get any work done. Though most officials are working for the development of the state, there are certain officials who are still working against the interest of the community.”
He, however, said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has “started taking cognizance of these things”. The CM , he said, “recently suspended an entire police outpost, transferred about a dozen IAS officers, which kind of assured people that action would be taken”.
“But still, at the grassroots, there are officers who are politically motivated. There are many officers jo vote bank kharab kar dete hain (who spoil vote banks).”
In UP, out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP won 33 seats – down from 62 seats in 2019 – and its allies RLD and Apna Dal (Soneylal) got two and one, respectively. The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP bagged 37 seats and its INDIA bloc partner Congress won six seats.
Nishad also flagged the “misuse of bulldozers” in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “It all started with a woman of our community in Jaunpur reaching out to police over some land dispute. Both the parties had registered a complaint. While police did not take any action against the accused, this woman’s house was demolished… Officials invoked the law but she could have been rehabilitated before taking such a decision. On this issue, many grassroots workers of my party became angry with me,” he said.
“People at the grassroots feel that a minister means government. While this used to happen in the past, today the fact is that ministers cannot get any work done. I remember as a youth, then Congress CM Vir Bahadur Singh used to come to our house and our people used to get the work done even if the application was on a half-torn piece of paper. That was the tradition,” he said.
He said people from Lucknow also came to him “crying for their houses, showing their land registration and that they had still received notice for demolition”.
“If action was to be taken, then people should have been rehabilitated first. And then, why was no action taken against officials who allowed such things to happen in the first place. It was the time of elections, so we did not speak much. Lekin haarne ke baad toh keh sakta hoon (But I can say this after the debacle).”
Nishad listed “overconfidence” among other factors that led to loss of NDA seats. “There was overconfidence about the works done by Modiji. Even the (NDA) leadership was confident that Uttar Pradesh had been turned into ‘Sarvottam Pradesh’ (best state) and people would vote for us,” he said.
He said a majority of about 15 crore people in UP, who are dependent on free ration, are deprived, saying they were “misguided” by the INDIA bloc’s campaign on the issue of reservation and Constitution during the Lok Sabha polls. “The BJP failed to counter it – that it is Congress which is actually against reservation,” he said.
On the corrections that the NDA should make for the 2027 UP polls, Nishad said, “First of all, a comprehensive strategy should be made taking alliance partners in confidence. Then there should be better coordination between ministers and officers or public representatives. Complaints of public representatives should be heard. Like the way the administration used to hear it during Mayawati’s rule.”
“I would say that Yogiji does what he says, but there is still a lot of work to be done. He has finished mafias, given fishermen a welfare board, ensured infrastructure in the state. But the public did not see the work and instead believed rumours regarding reservation and the Constitution. These issues will have to be resolved before the (next) polls,” he said.
