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LUCKNOW: In yet another Hindutva push in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP in UP on Tuesday announced that it would install a statue of Lord Ram with Nishad Raj in Allahabad, now Prayagraj, where Kumbh is due next year. This comes close on the heels of the saffron party’s announcement on building a Ram statue in Ayodhya .

Making the announcement, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said a statue of Ram embracing the fisherman king would be installed at Shringverpur Dham on the banks of the Ganga.

It is believed that it was at Shringverpur that Ram, who was in exile, met Nishad Raj who offered to help him sail across Ganga.

Maurya said Shringverpur is known for ‘samrasta’ (social harmony) and that is why the concept of installing a statue of Ram and Nishad Raj was being thought of. He, however, maintained that the concept was still in the planning stage and would be finalised soon.

The move is also being seen as BJP’s attempt to woo the Nishads, who belong to the most backward caste community, even as the saffron party gears up to take on the combined opposition, essentially comprising the SP and BSP. In byelections in Gorakhpur, the turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath , BJP had faced a defeat after SP had fielded Pravin Nishad, an MBC.

