New Delhi, April 4 (PTI) The Purvanchal Express, which runs from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkata, is likely to be renamed as Nishad Express, sources said on Monday.

The move to rename the train comes following a request from BJP's ally in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party, they said.

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Nishad Party president Sanjay Nishad, also the state's fisheries minister, met Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw here and requested him to name some identified trains going to Prayagraj and to southern states from Uttar Pradesh as Maharaja Nishad Raj Express.

He also requested the Union minister to run a special train from Varanasi to Prayagraj on the occasion of Nishadraj Jayanti on April 6.

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On that day, a grand rally will be taken out from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi to Shringverpur Dham, Nishad said.

The Nishad Party was formed for empowerment of Nishad, Kewats, Bind, Mallah, Sahani, Kashyap and Gond communitie whose traditional occupations depend on rivers.

Its founder Sanjay Nishad is a former member of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the recent assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad Party bagged six seats on its own symbol while five of its candidates won on the BJP symbol.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)