Amit Shah Assures To Build 80-Feet Tall Statue of Nishadraj in Uttar Pradesh

Guwahati: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah promised to build an 80-feet tall statue of Nishadraj in Shringverpur in Allahabad district in a bid to woo the Nishad (boatman) community ahead of the final two phases of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Amit Shah while addressing a series of rallies in Balrampur, Siddharthanagar, Sant Kabirnagar and Sultanpur on Thursday said that Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh will construct a 80-feet tall statue of Nishadraj in the place where the Kewat (Boatman) had washed the feet of Lord Ram.

Shah said that a grand memorial for Nishadraj worth Rs. 34crore will be built at Shringverpur. According to local folklore, it was at Shringverpur, 45 km from Allahabad on Lucknow road, that Lord Ram crossed River Ganga on his way to exile along with Goddess Sita and Lord Lakshman.

It has been reported that boatmen refused to let the trio cross the River and Nishadraj visited the site to resolve the issue and Shah offered to give them the way only if Lord Rama let him wash his feet.

In order to suffice the incident, the place where Nishadraj washed the Lord's feet has been marked by a platform and has been named ‘Ramchura’.

The BJP states that the boatmen community is spread evenly across the state and constitutes nearly 13 percent of the electorate.

Chairperson of UP Backward Class Finance and Development Corporation Baburam Nishad said that some of the major sub-castes of the boatmen community are Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Dhuria, Raikwar, Dheemar, Batham, Manjhi and Saini. Nishad further said that as far as Lok Sabha seats are concerned, the community can swing the poll fortune in around 20 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state adding that some of the Lok Sabha seats where the boatmen and fishermen community could swing the polls are Firozabad, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Kairana, Machhlishahr and Jaunpur.

He also said that the Nishad community has a significant presence as well in Ghazipur, Phulpur, Sitapur, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Unnao, Gorakhpur, Ballia and Deoria.

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