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Before the 2027 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the focus of the Yogi government's plans now seems to be on reaching out to different social classes. After earlier steps like free bus travel for women, increase in honorarium of cooks and scooty for daughters, now a big decision has been taken for the fishermen families. The government has made arrangements for financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh on the marriage of daughters of eligible fisherman families and financial assistance for the education of children. While this step of the government is being seen as linked to the welfare of the fishermen families, from the electoral point of view it is also being seen as an attempt to strengthen the hold between Nishad and the fishermen community.

While expanding the scope of Fishermen Welfare Fund, the State Government has made arrangements to provide assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the marriage of daughters of eligible fishermen families. It is said that the age of the girl should be between 18 to 21 years. Along with this, arrangements have been made to give Rs 150 per month and Rs 750 annual grant for a maximum of 10 months to the students studying in class 10th. The condition that the annual income of the family should be up to Rs 2 lakh has also been mentioned.

Government's new move amid demand for reservation

Reservation has been a big issue in the politics of Nishad community for a long time. Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad has been continuously raising the demand for reservation for the castes belonging to the fishermen community including Nishad. Even in 2026, there have been reports of their putting pressure on the government regarding this demand. In such a situation, amidst the issue of reservation, the announcement of Rs 1 lakh for the marriage of daughters and financial assistance for the education of children is also being considered politically important. The question is whether the government wants to strengthen its reach through financial assistance to that social class which has been considering reservation as its biggest demand?

Which castes will get benefit?

The fishermen community is not considered limited to only one caste. In this social group, many communities including Kevat, Mallah, Nishad, Bind, Dhimar, Kashyap, Batham, Rakwar, Manjhi, Gondia and Kahar are identified in different areas. This is the reason why the influence of the fisherman-Nishad community is believed to be influencing the electoral mathematics in many assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh. Nishad population is believed to be dominant in districts like Gorakhpur, Mau, Ghazipur, Ballia, Sant Kabirnagar, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Fatehpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Saharanpur and Lakhimpur.

Important seats for BJP-Nishad Party alliance

In the 2022 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Nishad Party alliance had used this social equation in the election field. Nishad Party had fielded its candidates on 16 seats in the alliance and got success on many of these seats. The final seat sharing between Bharatiya Janata Party and Nishad Party for 2027 has not been made public yet.

Nishad Party is continuously talking about strengthening its organization and election preparations. Seats like Mehndawal, Nautanwa, Khadda, Shahganj and Gyanpur, where Nishad Party MLAs are said to be in the current assembly, apart from seats like Karchana and Tindwari, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs with the name Nishad were won in 2022, which shows the picture of the widespread political influence of this community.

After women, focus on Nishad votes?

If we look at the recent announcements of the government together, there is a special emphasis on women, daughters and now fishermen families. From a political perspective, this is being interpreted to mean that the Bharatiya Janata Party wants to integrate different social groups with itself through targeted welfare schemes before 2027. After steps like free bus travel and scooty for women, the decision to provide assistance of Rs 1 lakh on the marriage of daughters of fishermen families is being seen in this sequence.

Will the real test be held in 2027?

On one hand, Bharatiya Janata Party has an alliance with Nishad Party, and on the other hand, there is an old demand of reservation of Nishad community. In such a situation, how much impact the government's financial assistance schemes have on this society will become clear in the coming months. For now, it is certain that the assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the marriage of daughters of fishermen families and assistance for children's education has again brought the Nishad-fisherman vote to the center stage in the electoral politics of 2027. Now the focus will be on which direction the electoral trend of Nishad community goes amidst the demand for reservation and government schemes.