New Delhi: A cabinet minister in Yogi Adityanath’s government, Sanjay Nishad, is under fire after a party worker accused him of harassment before allegedly dying by suicide. Based out of Gorakhpur, Nishad is the president of the Nishad Party, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and holds the fisheries portfolio in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet.
On Saturday evening (February 15 ), before he was found hanging in his room in his native Maharajganj district, near Gorakhpur, Dharmatma Nishad shared a long post on his Facebook page accusing Sanjay Nishad and his sons Praveen Nishad (former MP) and Shravan Nishad (MLA from Gorakhpur) of harassing him with false criminal cases and trying to undermine him due to his increasing popularity.
Dharmatma’s family have demanded that a criminal case be lodged against the minister and his sons. Police said they were taking action in the matter. Sanjay Nishad, the self-proclaimed ‘political godfather of the fisherman community’, refuted the allegations and demanded that an impartial investigation be held to find out the true reason behind Dharmatma’s death.
Sanjay Nishad, while expressing grief over the death, said he sensed a conspiracy behind the Facebook post to tarnish the image of his family and his party and called it “totally baseless.”
Dharmatma, who was associated with the Sanjay Nishad for a decade, was MLA Shravan Nishad’s personal secretary as well as a former state secretary of the Nishad Party, which claims to be the political voice of the riverine backward caste communities.
In his Facebook post, Dharmatma expressed his distress over an alleged “conspiracy” against him by the minister and his sons in order to clip his wings. He alleged that they got fake cases registered against him, including one for loot and another for raising voice for an alleged murder victim from the Nishad community. “If I am leaving this world, the biggest reason for this is Dr. Sanjay Kumar Nishad and his sons Praveen Kumar Nishad and Shravan Kumar Nishad and my wicked traitor friend Jai Prakash Nishad,” Dharmatma wrote in his post.
Dharmatma accused Sanjay Nishad of overlooking the contribution of ordinary workers from the Nishad community in the party’s political journey and in fighting for the rights of the Nishad people. While accusing Sanjay Nishad of “cashing in” on the work of “hundreds”of Nishad workers and exploiting them, Dharmatma appealed to the community to free itself from the clutches of the “cunning” leader. “Sanjay Kumar Nishad and his sons have caused more damage to the Nishad community than other parties. I have seen everything very closely while staying with them,” wrote Dharmatma.
Sanjay Nishad said he wanted an “impartial probe” of the entire matter. “It is very sad and a personal loss for me. I have always supported him at all levels,” the minister said.
He alleged that the allegations made by Dharmatma on Facebook could have been concocted by someone else. “I firmly believe that Dharmatma Nishad can do no such thing. An attempt was made to tarnish me, my family and Nishad Party through this post,” said Sanjay Nishad.
He alleged that the “suicide” and the social media post were part of a “deeper conspiracy” against his party and him. “How can the one who is fighting for the society get defeated and how can he end his fight, this is absolutely a matter of investigation and should be investigated,” Sanjay Nishad said.
Sanjay Nishad is a key ally of the ruling party in UP. His elder son Praveen was elected as a BJP MP in 2019 but lost in 2024. His younger son Shravan is the sitting MLA from Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur.
