New Delhi: Days after Uttar Pradesh minister Ashish Patel of Apna Dal (Soneylal) publicly accused officials considered close to CM Yogi Adityanath of “planting false stories” against him, another state minister and BJP ally has opened a new front by taking aim at the state bureaucracy.
On Monday, Sanjay Nishad stirred the pot by blaming “Vibhishans” in the ruling BJP for the party’s poor showing in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nishad is national president of NISHAD party, a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The jibe came a day after BJP MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar levelled graft charges against, among others, UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh.
While CMO officials see it as a bid to dent the image of the Yogi Adityanath-led government, UP BJP functionaries and political analysts cautioned that the ruling party cannot ignore concerns voiced by the three OBC leaders—Ashish Patel, Nand Kishor Gurjar and Sanjay Nishad.
This article is NOT paywalled
But your support enables us to deliver impactful stories, credible interviews, insightful opinions and on-ground reportage.
For instance, Professor Kaviraj, a member of the department of political science faculty at Lucknow University, termed it “pressure politics”.
“But if issues raised by these OBC leaders are not sorted out, it may create problems for the ruling party since it would give the Opposition a chance to voice these issues and curry favour with the community,” he told ThePrint.
He, however, added, “Allies are only loyal till they see you have power.”
Also Read: Who is Sanjay Prasad, Yogi’s data man, tech-savvy taskmaster & UP’s most powerful IAS officer today
Sanjay Nishad’s warning
Addressing the media in Gorakhpur, Sanjay Nishad said Monday that “Vibhishans” within the BJP are to blame for the party’s performance in UP in the 2024 general election. “My son’s loss in the Lok Sabha was also because of them … if action is not taken against these Vibhishans, then we may lose in 2027 [assembly elections] as well,” he said.
A member of the UP Legislative Council, Nishad added, “I was with the BJP earlier, I’m with them today and will be with them tomorrow as well. But as a friend, it is important to tell the truth.”
His son Pravin Nishad contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Sant Kabir Nagar on a BJP ticket and lost to the Samajwadi Party candidate.
Asked who he was referring to when pointing to “Vibhishans” Nishad did not clarify and said in response that he meant those responsible for BJP’s Lok Sabha tally in UP dropping from 62 in 2019 to 33 in 2024.
“I helped BJP win when SP and BSP were together. The Nishad community was with SP-BSP earlier. We made them aware and brought them to the side of the NDA, but our issues have been ignored since. If BJP does not wake up, it will have to face the consequences in 2027. The Nishads want reservations in the SC category. The ‘Vibhishans’ are not conveying this feedback to the [party] high command,” said the state minister of fisheries.
A senior NISHAD party functionary who did not wish to be named said Sanjay Nishad is concerned about SC quota for the community, and also annoyed with the behaviour of government officials who he feels do not pay much attention to the concerns of public representatives. “Every day we see that these officials do not keep ministers in the loop on important policy decisions. Though the reservation issue is political, they do not give feedback to the high command on how important it is for our community.”
Unlike Ashish Patel, Sanjay Nishad did not name any officials and instead referred to them as “Vibhishans”, the functionary added.
The minister for technical education, among other departments, Patel last week accused UP director of information Shishir Singh and media advisor to the CM Mrityunjay Kumar Singh of tarnishing his image by “planting false stories” while also daring the Amitabh Yash-led Special Task Force (STF) to shoot him on the chest, “if you have the guts”.
All three officials are considered close to UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
ThePrint reached Mrityunjay Kumar Singh and Amitabh Yash who downplayed it as a ‘political issue’ and refused to comment.
Patel had made the remarks days after his sister-in-law Pallavi Patel, Samajwadi Party MLA from Sirathu, alleged irregularities in his department.
On Friday, CM Yogi Adityanath met Ashish Patel. The next day, Patel met BJP national president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi and it seemed that the differences had been ironed out. However, upon his return to Lucknow, Patel continued to target state government officials on Facebook and ‘X’.
‘Officials not listening even to CM’
A day before Sanjay Nishad’s remarks, BJP MLA from Ghaziabad’s Loni Nand Kishor Gurjar targeted officials in the UP government for ‘not paying heed to public representatives’.
Corruption has peaked in Ghaziabad police, he alleged Sunday, adding that when he along with other MLAs met CM Yogi Adityanath, they were assured–thrice—of the removal of the Ghaziabad police commissioner. “But it seems these officers are not even listening to the chief minister,” he said.
Gurjar added, “The chief minister is a good man but it seems that officials under him are not listening to him. If we do not speak for the public, we will lose our deposit in the elections. Some officials are doing the same thing in connivance with SP-Congress which they did in the Lok Sabha elections.”
“If action is taken against dishonest officials, the BJP will get 350 seats in the 2027 elections,” he declared.
Gurjar was at the centre of a demonstration by at least 70 BJP MLAs who came out in his support and to protest ‘misbehaviour of officials’ in 2019.
OBC versus ‘Upper Caste’ issue
Sources in the UP Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) claimed charges levelled by Ashish Patel, Sanjay Nishad and Nand Kishor Gurjar were part of a planned bid to dent the Yogi government’s image.
“If you notice who is raising these issues, are those leaders close to maharaj ji [Yogi] or very senior within the organisation? No. They all are being used to dent the image of a chief minister whose graph is increasing. They will go silent for a few months and then start raising similar issues again. It’s a planned controversy against maharaj ji. He will respond as he sees fit,” said a senior CMO official who did not wish to be named.
A second CMO official added, “Whenever maharaj ji’s image gets a boost, some or the other controversy rears its head. This time, we won 7 of 9 seats in the bypolls. His slogan ‘batenge to katenge’ created a narrative in the assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra as well, but some in the top rung keep doing something to create controversy. He [Yogi] will not be pressured by these small things. He has acceptance among the masses.”
Meanwhile, UP BJP functionaries ThePrint spoke to alleged that while Patel, Nishad and Gurjar were targeting officials, their attacks were aimed at CM Adityanath, though adding that their concerns cannot be ignored.
“We should find a solution to these issues, or it would become an OBC versus ‘Upper Caste’ issue. All these leaders have their say within the OBC community,” said a senior UP BJP leader who did not wish to be named.
Adding, “They are targeting officials who are ‘Upper Caste’. We already faced its repercussions in the Lok Sabha polls where a large section of non-Yadav OBCs voted for INDIA bloc. In UP, non-Yadav OBC population is above 35 percent, the government cannot ignore their problems.”
Asked about friction within the NDA in UP, state BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava told ThePrint, “It is our internal issue.” He added that going by media reports, CM Yogi Adityanath has already met Ashish Patel and the party high command will take a call on next steps.
“Our alliance is strong,” insisted Srivastava, citing the BJP’s performance in the recent bypolls.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
