By Tehelka Web Desk
New Delhi: BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh was in Lucknow on Friday as the party stepped up preparations for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. At a time when the BJP is gearing up for the electoral battle, the sight of a Cabinet minister sitting on dharna and a Minister of State questioning the police is naturally a matter of concern for the ruling establishment.
Cabinet Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad took to the streets in Gonda on Friday, leading a march and staging a dharna over the murder of trader and Nishad Party worker Vinod Kumar Sahni.
The victim’s family has demanded that all those involved in the murder be arrested, the National Security Act (NSA) be invoked against the accused and compensation be provided to the family. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also extended his support to the demand for justice.
Nishad’s protest comes despite his position as a senior minister in the Yogi Adityanath government and chief of the Nishad Party, a BJP ally. He led supporters to the district Collectorate and sat on dharna, putting the administration under pressure to act in the case.
The district administration subsequently engaged with the minister. Gonda District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan met Nishad and assured him that the administration would ensure appropriate assistance to the victim’s family and that strict action would be taken according to law.
Three police personnel, including the Paraspur station house officer, Shahpur outpost in-charge and a constable, have also been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.
The Opposition has sought to turn the episode into an attack on the Yogi government’s law-and-order record. Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party leaders backed the victim’s family and supported the demand for action.
But Gonda is not the only place where a minister from the ruling camp has raised questions about the police.
In Sitapur, Minister of State Rakesh Rathore ‘Guru’ became emotional at a police station after BJP workers were detained during an anti-encroachment and road-widening operation. Rathore questioned the treatment of the workers and alleged that people with criminal backgrounds were given greater consideration while BJP workers were made to face detention and humiliation.
Rathore became emotional while making his point, saying he had gone to the police station to stand up for the dignity of BJP workers. He questioned what would happen to the party if its workers were not respected.
The police, however, have presented a different version of the incident, saying the dispute arose during an anti-encroachment operation and that officers initially did not know those detained were BJP workers. The situation escalated during the interaction before the workers were subsequently released.
The two incidents have come at a politically significant moment for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. With the party already preparing its organisation for the 2027 Assembly elections, public dissatisfaction with the police and administration from within the ruling camp is likely to attract attention.
For the Opposition, such episodes provide an opportunity to question the government’s claim of effective law and order. For the BJP, they raise a different concern: whether grievances among its own ministers and grassroots workers are being adequately addressed by the administration.
The Gonda murder case itself has seen significant police action. Three accused have been arrested and three policemen have been suspended. Police have also said that the post-mortem found no gunshot or sharp-weapon injuries, contrary to the initial allegation that Sahni had been attacked with bullets and knives. According to police, he died from injuries sustained in a beating with sticks.
Police have said the preliminary investigation indicated that Sahni was attacked after some people objected to social-media posts. The arrested accused have made similar claims during questioning, according to the police.
Nishad has since sought to make clear that his protest should not be seen as a confrontation with the BJP or Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He has said the agitation was for justice for the victim and his community and was held with the chief minister’s knowledge. He has also rejected speculation about any political realignment ahead of the 2027 elections.
That clarification notwithstanding, the political optics remain significant.
B.L. Santosh’s Lucknow visit came as the BJP reviewed its preparations for the 2027 election, including organisational strengthening and its grassroots campaign. At the same time, two ministers from the ruling camp have, in separate incidents, publicly raised concerns about police functioning and the treatment of party workers.
Neither episode necessarily signals a political confrontation with the government. But for a ruling party preparing for an election, ministers taking their grievances to the streets and publicly questioning the police is, at the very least, a matter of concern.
