Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (born 18 July 1962) is an Indian politician from

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

, also an advocate,

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

, and social worker. He served as a cabinet minister of the

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

government three times and was a member of parliament for Fatehpur (Lok Sabha constituency) in the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996.

Early life

Nishad was born in the small village of Bada Kachhaar Hamirpur, India at his grandmother's home. His late father Shri Shrikrishna Nishad was a small farmer in Jhanjharipurwa, Banda. He studied at Pt. J. N. Degree College and Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, gained a master's degree in economics from

Bundelkhand University Bundelkhand University is a State university based in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1975, it has professional, technical and vocational study programmes along with facilities for research. Administration The chancellor of the univ ...

, Jhansi, after completing LL.B. He married Smt Shakuntla Nishad on 20 April 1987, with whom he had two sons—Vivek and Akhil.

Political career

Nishad was elected to the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the- ...

four times (1991, 1993, 2002 and 2007) for the Tindwari, Banda seat. He worked as a cabinet minister of fisheries, animal husbandry, revenue, Ambedkar Gram Sabha development, External Aided Project and mining. He played an important role in the release of

Phoolan Devi Phoolan Devi (1963–2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen, was an Mallah woman who grew up in poverty in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her family was in a land dispute which caused many problems in her youth and after b ...

, the Bandit Queen from

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

central jail in 1994, when he was a minister in the

government. He became a prominent

Nishada Nishada (') is a tribe mentioned in ancient Indian literature (such as the epic ''Mahabharata''). The ancient texts mention several kingdoms ruled by this tribe. In the Mahabharata, the Nishadas are described as hunters, fishermen, mountaineers o ...

face of

among India's fishing community. Nishad was elected as member of Rajya Sabha on 12 June 2014 on vacant seat after Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel of BSP resigned. After completing his two years tenure, Nishad was reelected again for Rajya Sabha till 2022 in July 2016.

Present activities

As of 2012, Nishad held the post of National General Secretary of the

as well as the State Party in charge of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. He joined the disciplinary committee of Samajwadi Party after the 2012 assembly election. Nishad announced his candidacy for the Hamirpur-

Mahoba Mahoba is a city in Mahoba District of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the Bundelkhand region, well known for the ninth century granite Sun temple built in Pratihara style. It is also well known for the 24 rock-cut Jain tirthankara image ...

- Tindwari seat in the 2014 parliamentary election.

Social work

Nishad runs educational institutes in the remote area of Bundelkhand for the

fisherman community in memory of the Nishada legend

Ekalavya Ekalavya (Sanskrit: एकलव्य, ''ékalavya'') is a character from the Indian epic Mahābhārata. He was a young prince of the Nishadas, a confederation of forest and hill tribes in ancient India. Ekalavya is called as one of the fore ...

. In Parliament, he focused on reservation issues related to the problems of India's fishing communities. He is president of Samajwadi Kashyap Nishad Bind Turaha Ekta Mahasabha, which works to advance the fishing castes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishad, Vishambhar Prasad Samajwadi Party politicians 1962 births Living people People from Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh State cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh India MPs 1996–1997 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Nishad Vsihambhar Prasad People from Fatehpur district