Wrong meanings being drawn from meeting SP’s Mata Prasad

Lucknow: A day after meeting Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, triggering intensive discussions, Uttar Pradesh Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad on Tuesday said that wrong meanings were being drawn from the meeting of “two senior politicians”. The meeting took place at Pandey’s private residence on Monday.

Speaking to IANS, Nishad said: “Wrong meanings are being drawn from it. He is a senior leader. He used to guide us during our youth. He was ill, so meeting him was my duty. Now, when two senior leaders meet, there will be discussions on politics.”

“We discussed Vinod Sahani, that if the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had not been taken away, perhaps such an incident would not have occurred,” he added.

0Nishad, who has been vocal about demanding separate reservation for the Nishad community within the SC quota, was referring to the murder of a Nishad community member in Gonda following a dispute over social media posts. Recently, he had led a protest against the ruling BJP-led government, despite being an ally, over Sahani’s murder.

Responding to the incident, the UP Minister said: “The Nishad Party was born out of movements like the rail movement, road movement, jail bharo movement, gherao of the Chief Minister, gherao of the Prime Minister, Jantar Mantar movement, etc.