Mukesh Sahani, whose Vikassheel Insaan Party is an ally of the BJP in Bihar, has said that ousting the BJP from power in Uttar Pradesh is his main goal and called upon his party workers to support strong contenders from among the SP, BSP or the Congress in seats where they do not have a candidate.
"Our fight is with Delhi and our main goal is to provide reservation to the Nishad community.... Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah make the promise in every election, but they forget about it once election gets over," Sahani, a minister in the Bihar government, said.
"When we oust the Yogi Adityanath government from power in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will realise that the Nishad community does not support it anymore," he told reporters here Thursday evening.
The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which is part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Bihar, has fielded candidates in 55-odd seats in Uttar Pradesh where assembly elections are underway.
"Removing the BJP from power in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is the main aim. We have asked our party office-bearers to support strong contenders from among the SP, BSP and the Congress in the seats where there is no candidate of our party," Sahani said.
He said he has full confidence that once defeated in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP will be compelled to give reservation to the Nishad community before the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
He said his party will oppose the BJP in 2024 if it fails to provide reservation to the community.
In response to a question, he said his party joined the fray in Uttar Pradesh just five months ago and was putting up a strong fight. "Our party had declared candidates for 102 seats, but the nominations of many of our candidates were cancelled. Now we are contesting on 55-56 seats," he said.
Attacking Sanjay Nishad, the president of BJP ally Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad party) in Uttar Pradesh, Sahani said he is not running a party but a shop.
"Sometimes he makes his son a candidate from SP and then from BJP. In these elections, his son is in the fray as a BJP candidate...even though he has his own party," Sahani said.
