Our aim is to ensure NDA's victory in UP election, says Sanjay Nishad

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 28 (ANI): Nishad party president Sanjay Nishad, who had demanded the deputy chief minister's post but settled with his nomination as an MLC, thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday and said the aim was to ensure National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) victory in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Speaking about his demand for the deputy CM's post, he said, "I am happy that I have been nominated to the Upper House of the state legislature and Sangeeta Balwant has been inducted into the cabinet."
He said that the Nishad Party has not been formed for MLC or Rajya Sabha it was formed to raise the voice for the weak.
"The Nishad Party has not been formed for MLC or Rajya Sabha seats. It has been formed to raise the voice of the weak who don't have food, clothing and shelter since 70 years. BJP has given a platform to address this issue. I thank BJP for it," he said.
Nishad further said, "Our aim is to ensure NDA's victory and it is not important how many seats we will get to contest in the upcoming Assembly polls. The issues of our community should be resolved."
About the number of seats his party expects to win in the upcoming polls, Sanjay Nishad said, "Now we are a part of the NDA and will ensure its victory. We will see that it wins more seats than its own goal."
The BJP had last week formally announced that it would contest the 2022 assembly elections in alliance with the Nishad Party. However, seat-sharing details were not disclosed.
Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls that are scheduled to be held early next year, seven new ministers took the oath of office in the UP cabinet on Sunday.
The is seen as an attempt to set the caste balance right and give more representation to most backwards and schedule castes before elections in the state.
Among the ministers who took oath are Jitin Prasada, a Brahmin switched over from Congress in June this year.
Out of six others, Dharmveer Prajapati, Chhatrapal Gangawar and Sangita Balwant Bind are from other backward classes (OBC), Paltu Ram and Dinesh Khatik belong to scheduled caste and Sanjeev Kumar Gond, who belongs to the Gond community-- a scheduled tribe.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats in the state. (ANI)