Uttar Pradesh Congress launched ‘Nadi Adhikar Yatra’ at Prayagraj on Monday to highlight issues faced by the Nishad (fishermen) community, which has a sizable presence in 152 of the 403 Assembly constituencies in the state.The Yatra, which will culminate in Ballia district on February 21, was flagged off by senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari and minister in Chhattisgarh government Kunwar Singh Nishad – who belongs to the community – in the presence of hundreds of Congress activists.

It will cover Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Varanasi, Chandausi and Ghazipur districts which has a sizeable population of Nishads.Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi had recently interacted with the Nishad community while she was visiting Prayagraj.

“The Nishad community’s life is linked to rivers, they understand the pain of rivers. Like the agriculture laws were made for some billionaires, the UP government is for the sand mafia. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had been formed with help from the community’s votes but now the community is being harassed in its tenure,” Priyanka said while attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government.

The 20-day-long campaign will see Priyanka interacting with fishermen across eight major towns in eastern UP, party sources told National Herald.Priyanka Gandhi could not join the Yatra on Monday as she was campaigning in Assam.Coming under the OBC category, Nishads also have a sizable population in Kaushambi, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar and Maharajganj.

It is for the first time after Priyanka Gandhi took reins of the party in Uttar Pradesh that the Congress has launched a campaign for the benefit of a particular OBC community. Congress’ strategists are hopeful that ‘Kisan Pachayats’ and ‘Nadi Adhikar Yatra’ will expand the party’s base among farming and fisheries communities.

The ‘Nadi Adhikar Yatra’ comes close on the heels of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressing a slew of ‘Kisan Pachayats’ in western UP.During the ‘Kisan Panchayats’ held in Rampur, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar and Mathura, which saw huge crowds, Priyanka Gandhi highlighted the issue of pending dues of sugarcane farmers and also rallied in support of potato farmers.

With local body elections due in two months and UP going to polls next year, sources said Priyanka Gandhi’s ‘Kisan Panchayats’ and ‘Nadi Adhikar Yatra’ would lay the foundation of the party’s campaign in the state.