Sanjay Nishad, president of the Nishad Party and fisheries minister in Uttar Pradesh, has publicly spoken about the possibility of leaving the NDA twice in two days without explaining his grouse.

Sources in the BJP said the OBC leader with just 5 MLAs and no MPs was trying to pressure the ruling party into giving him a “better” ministry and a Rajya Sabha berth for his son.

“I used to be with the Samajwadi Party (SP) but they shut the door on us and we went to the BJP. We’ll join some other group if the BJP abandons us,” Nishad told reporters in Lucknow on Saturday.

On Friday, he had said in Kanpur: “The SP pushed us away and so we went to the BJP. We have the option of going elsewhere if they cast us aside.”

He had added: “We have decided to contest the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections by ourselves.”

Asked in Lucknow whether he was going to leave the BJP, he was non-committal.

“The BJP embraced us like Lord Ram (who befriended the Nishad king Guha) did, and so we will remain Lakshman till they shut their door on us,” he said.

“But we will contest the panchayat elections alone. Maybe we will contest the Assembly elections in 2027 in alliance with them.”

Sanjay claims the support of the OBC Nishad, Bind, Kewat, Mallah and Gond castes, which live along the rivers, in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Once a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Sanjay formed the Nishad Party in 2016 and tied up with the BJP in 2019.

“He wants a different cabinet berth for himself, a Rajya Sabha membership for his son, and 20 per cent panchayat seats for his party,” a senior BJP leader in Lucknow said.

“Our information is that the BJP or Yogi have not said anything negative to Sanjay but have been ignoring his demands.”

He added: “Many MLAs and MPs from our own party are in the queue to become ministers.... Sanjay should be asked to leave if tries to mount pressure on the party.”

Sanjay’s son Praveen was elected Samajwadi MP from Gorakhpur in the 2018 by-election but joined the BJP the following year and was elected again from the same seat, once represented by Adityanath. Praveen lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Laxmikant Nishad in 2024.

With just 5 members in a House of 403, the Nishad Party is not in a position to destabilise the Adityanath government, which sits comfortably with 258 members. The Samajwadis, with 104 members, are far short of majority.

Experts believe that Sanjay is banking on his “nuisance value”.