Akhilesh Yadav working under Mayawati's 'pressure': Nishad Party

Days after breaking away from the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party Tuesday alleged that Akhilesh Yadav was working under Mayawati's "pressure" and expressed confidence that the BJP will give it an adequate number of seats in the state to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

Barely three days after joining the alliance, the Nishad Party on March 29 sprang a surprise by parting ways with the fledgling anti-BJP alliance and meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"We have spoken to the BJP leadership and are awaiting a positive response from its president, Amit Shah. There is no bargaining from our side.I trust them (BJP). Our main issue is of reservation and we want to contest the polls on our party symbol," Nishad Party president and founder Sanjay Nishad told PTI.

The Nishad Party was formed in 2016 to empower Nishads, Kewats, Binds and other communities, whose livelihoods are dependent on rivers.Members of these communities are mostly boatmen or fishermen, and are demanding schedule caste status.

On why he decided to part ways with the alliance, Nishad said, "I wanted the Gorakhpur and Maharajganj seats on which I was given assurance by the SP chief (Akhilesh Yadav)."
"But later, I was offered one seat and was asked to contest on the SP's symbol, for which I am not ready. I wanted to contest on my own party symbol 'Bhojan Bhari Thali' (plate with food). Akhilesh is working under pressure from (BSP supremo) Mayawati and betrayed me. So, I had to take the decision," he said