BJP ally and state minister Sanjay Nishad led a protest against his own government, with the Opposition joining in and backing his calls for justice. X/ Sanjay Nishad 7 min readLucknowSep 11, 2026 09:19 PM IST First published on: Sep 11, 2026 at 09:19 PM IST
A day after a trader from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district died of injuries sustained during a dispute over social media posts, the matter snowballed into a political controversy on Friday as BJP ally and state minister Sanjay Nishad led a protest against his own government, with the Opposition joining in and backing his calls for justice.
The incident, which comes months before Assembly elections in UP, has taken on a caste colour as the trader is from the Nishad community and three of the accused who have been arrested are from the “upper caste”, according to the police. Nishad on Friday reiterated that if the accused who remain absconding do not surrender, then “encounter becomes necessary” and any unauthorised property they own must be bulldozed.