Bahujan Samaj Party | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | BSP |
President | Mayawati [1] |
General Secretary |
|
Rajya Sabha Leader | Ramji Gautam |
Founder | Kanshi Ram |
Founded | 14 April 1984 |
Preceded by | Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti |
Headquarters | 12, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi, India-110001 |
Newspaper | Bahujan Samaj Bulletin |
Ideology | Ambedkarism [3] Self-Respect [3] |
Colours | Blue |
ECI Status | National Party |
Alliance | BSP+SAD (2022–2023) BSP+GGP (2023–) BSP+INLD (2023–) |
Seats in Lok Sabha | 8 / 543 |
Seats in Rajya Sabha | 1 / 245 |
Seats in State Legislative Assembly | 3 / 4,036 List |
Seats in State Legislative Council | 0 / 426 |
Number of states and union territories in government | 0 / 31 |
Election symbol | |
Website | |
www | |
The Bahujan Samaj Party (abbr.BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with religious minorities. [4] According to Kanshi Ram, when he founded the party in 1984, the Bahujans comprised 85 percent of India's population, but were divided into 6,000 different castes. [5] [6] The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Narayana Guru, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, and Gautama Buddha.
Kanshi Ram named his protégée, Mayawati, as his successor in 2001. The BSP has its main base in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where it was the second-largest party in the 2019 Indian general election with 19.3% of votes [7] and fourth largest in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election with 12.88% of votes. [8] Its election symbol is an elephant which is the same symbol historically used by Dr. Ambedkar's Scheduled Castes Federation. [9]
"Bahujan" is a Sanskritic term found in Hindu and Buddhist texts, and literally refers to "many people", or "the majority". It connotes the combined population of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Muslims, and minorities who together constitute the demographic majority of India. [10] [11] The word "Bahujan" appears in the dictum "Bahujana Hitaya Bahujana Sukhaya", or "The benefit and prosperity of the many", articulated by Gautama Buddha. [12] [13] [14]
In his writing, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar used the term to refer to the majority of people in society that experienced discrimination and oppression on the basis of caste. Jyotirao Phule used the term in a similar context, and compared the Bahujans of India to Slavery in the United States. Schedule Caste and Bahujan writers have suggested this proportion was 70 percent of the population. [14] [15]
Bahujan Samaj Party was founded on the birth anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar (14 April 1984) by Kanshi Ram, [16] who named former school teacher, Mayawati, as his successor of BSP in 2001. [17] The party's power grew quickly with seats in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh and the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. In 1993, following the assembly elections, Mayawati formed a coalition with Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister. On 2 June 1995, she withdrew support from his government, which led to a major incident where Mulayam Singh Yadav was accused of sending his zealots to keep her party legislators hostage at a Lucknow guest house and shout casteist abuses at her. [18] Since this incident, they have regarded each other publicly as chief rivals. [19] Mayawati then obtained support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to become Chief Minister on 3 June 1995. In October 1995, the BJP withdrew their support and fresh elections were called after a period of President's Rule. In 2003, Mayawati resigned from her own government to prove that she was not "hungry for power" [20] and asked the BJP-run Government of India to remove Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Jagmohan. [21] In 2007, she began leading a BSP-formed government with an absolute majority for a full five-year term. [22]
On 10 Dec 2023, Mayawati declared her nephew Akash Anand as party's successor. [23] [24] [25]
On 14 April 2009, the Bahujan Samaj Party celebrated its silver jubilee. [26] The Manywar Shri Kanshi Ramji Shahri Garib Awas Yojna housing scheme for poor was launched by Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). [27] The role of Mayawati was discussed in BSP's success. [28] A mass rally was organised in Lucknow with 10000 police personnel on duty. [29] It was the 305th and largest rally of BSP since 1984. [30] As per Observer Research Foundation, within 25 years BSP became third largest political party of India. [31]
BSP believes in "Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation" of the "Bahujan Samaj". The Bahujan Samaj signifies the Bahujans as the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Scheduled Tribes (ST), and the Other Backward Castes (OBC). B. R. Ambedkar, a proponent of Bahujan rights, is their important ideological inspiration. The BSP also speaks in favor of religious minorities. The party claims not to be prejudiced against upper-caste Hindus. In 2008, while addressing the audience, Mayawati said: "Our policies and ideology are not against any particular caste or religion. If we were anti-upper caste, we would not have given tickets to candidates from upper castes to contest elections". [32]
No | Image | Name | Constituency | Term of office | Tenure length | Assembly | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mayawati | None | 3 June 1995 | 18 October 1995 | 137 days | 12th Assembly (1993 election) | |
Harora | 21 March 1997 | 21 September 1997 | 184 days | 13th Assembly (1996 election) | |||
3 May 2002 | 29 August 2003 | 1 year, 118 days | 14th Assembly (2002 election) | ||||
MLC | 13 May 2007 | 15 March 2012 | 4 years, 307 days | 15th Assembly (2007 election) |
The results of the May 2007 Uttar Pradesh state assembly election saw the BSP emerge as a sole majority party, the first to do so since 1991. Mayawati began her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and took her oath of office along with 50 ministers of cabinet and state rank on 13 May 2007, at Rajbhawan in the state capital of Lucknow. [33] Most importantly, the majority achieved in large part was due to the party's ability to take away majority of upper castes votes from their traditional party, the BJP. [34]
The party could manage only 80 seats in 2012, as opposed to 206 in 2007 assembly elections. BSP government was the first in the history of Uttar Pradesh to complete its full five-year term. [35] On 26 May 2018, Ram Achal Rajbhar was replaced by R S Kushwaha as the president of UP unit. [36]
The 2014 national Lok Sabha elections saw the BSP become the third-largest national party of India in terms of vote percentage, having 4.2% of the vote across the country but gaining no seats. [37]
Prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BSP formed a Mahagathbandhan. The Mahagathbandhan (or Grand Alliance), or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance), [38] [39] is an anti-Congress, [40] anti-BJP [41] Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, along with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal and several other political parties, contesting in different states of India. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]
The Mahagathbandhan won 15 seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 Indian General Election. [48]
Lok Sabha Term | Year | Seats contested | Seats won | +/- Seats | vote% | +/- vote% | State (seats) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9th | 1989 | 245 | 4 / 543 | 4 | 2.07% | - | Punjab(1) UP(3) [49] |
10th | 1991 | 231 | 3 / 543 | 1 | 1.61% | 0.46% | MP (1) Punjab (1) UP (1) [50] |
11th | 1996 | 210 | 11 / 543 | 8 | 4.02% | 2.41% | MP (2) Punjab (3) UP(6) |
12th | 1998 | 251 | 5 / 543 | 6 | 4.67% | 0.65% | Haryana(1) UP(4) |
13th | 1999 | 225 | 14 / 543 | 9 | 4.16% | 0.49% | UP(14) |
14th | 2004 | 435 | 19 / 543 | 5 | 5.33% | 1.17% | UP(19) |
15th | 2009 | 500 | 21 / 543 | 2 | 6.17% | 0.84% | MP(1) UP(20) |
16th | 2014 | 503 | 0 / 543 | 21 | 4.19% | 1.98% | — |
17th | 2019 | 383 | 10 / 543 | 10 | 3.67% | 0.52% | UP(10) |
Year | Seats contested | Seats won | +/- | Voteshare (%) | +/-(%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bihar Legislative Assembly | |||||
1990 | 164 | 0 / 324 | 0.73% | ||
1995 | 161 | 2 / 324 | 2 | 1.34% | |
2000 | 249 | 5 / 324 | 3 | 1.89% | |
Feb 2005 | 238 | 2 / 243 | 3 | 4.41% | |
Oct 2005 | 212 | 4 / 243 | 2 | 4.17% | |
2010 | 243 | 0 / 243 | 4 | 3.21% | |
2015 | 228 | 0 / 243 | 2.1% | ||
2020 | 80 | 1 / 243 | 1 | 1.5% | |
Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly | |||||
2003 | 54 | 2 / 90 | 2 | 4.45% | |
2008 | 90 | 2 / 90 | 6.11% | ||
2013 | 90 | 1 / 90 | 1 | 4.27% | |
2018 | 33 | 2 / 90 | 1 | 3.9% | |
2023 | 58 | 0 / 90 | 0 | 2.05% | |
Delhi Legislative Assembly | |||||
1993 | 55 | 1 / 70 | 1 | 3.90% | |
1998 | 58 | 0 / 70 | 1 | 3.15% | |
2003 | 40 | 0 / 70 | 5.76% | ||
2008 | 70 | 2 / 70 | 2 | 14.05% | |
2013 | 69 | 0 / 70 | 2 | 5.33% | |
2015 | 70 | 0 / 70 | 1.31% | ||
2020 | 68 | 0 / 70 | 0.71% | ||
Haryana Legislative Assembly | |||||
2000 | 83 | 1 / 90 | 1 | 5.74% | |
2005 | 84 | 1 / 90 | 3.22% | ||
2009 | 86 | 1 / 90 | 6.73% | ||
2014 | 87 | 1 / 90 | 4.4% | ||
2019 | 87 | 0 / 90 | 1 | 4.21% | |
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly | |||||
1990 | 35 | 0 / 68 | 0.94% | ||
1993 | 49 | 0 / 68 | 2.25% | ||
1998 | 28 | 0 / 68 | 1.41% | ||
2003 | 23 | 0 / 68 | 0.7% | ||
2007 | 67 | 1 / 68 | 1 | 7.40% | |
2012 | 67 | 0 / 68 | 1 | 1.7% | |
2017 | 42 | 0 / 68 | 0.49% | ||
2022 | 53 | 0 / 68 | 0.35% | ||
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly | |||||
1996 | 29 | 4 / 87 | 4 | 6.43% | |
2002 | 33 | 1 / 87 | 3 | 4.50% | |
2008 | 83 | 0 / 87 | 1 | 3.73% | |
2014 | 50 | 0 / 87 | 1.41% | ||
Jharkhand Legislative Assembly | |||||
2009 | 78 | 0 / 81 | 2.44% | ||
2014 | 61 | 1 / 81 | 1.8% | ||
2019 | 67 | 0 / 81 | 2.5% | ||
Karnataka Legislative Assembly | |||||
2018 | 18 | 1 / 234 | 1 | 0.30% | |
2023 | 133 | 0 / 234 | 1 | 0.31% | |
Kerala Legislative Assembly | |||||
2011 | 122 | 0 / 140 | 0.60% | ||
2016 | 74 | 0 / 140 | 0.24% | ||
2021 | 72 | 0 / 140 | 0.23% | ||
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly | |||||
1990 | 183 | 2 / 320 | 2 | 3.54% | - |
1993 | 286 | 11 / 320 | 9 | 7.05% | 3.51% |
1998 | 170 | 11 / 320 | 6.15% | 0.9% | |
2003 | 157 | 2 / 230 | 9 | 7.26% | 1.11% |
2008 | 228 | 7 / 230 | 5 | 8.97% | 1.71% |
2013 | 227 | 4 / 230 | 3 | 6.29% | 2.68% |
2018 | 227 | 2 / 230 | 2 | 5.01% | 1.28% |
2023 | 181 | 0 / 230 | 2 | 3.40% | 1.61% |
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | |||||
1990 | 122 | 0 | 0.42% | ||
1995 | 145 | 0 | 1.49% | ||
1999 | 83 | 0 | 0.39% | ||
2004 | 272 | 0 | 4.0% | ||
2009 | 287 | 0 | 2.35% | ||
2014 | 280 | 0 | 2.33% | ||
2019 | 262 | 0 | 0.92% | ||
Punjab Legislative Assembly | |||||
1992 | 105 | 9 | 9 | 16.32% | |
1997 | 67 | 1 | 8 | 7.48% | |
2002 | 100 | 0 | 1 | 5.69% | |
2007 | 115 | 0 | 4.13% | ||
2012 | 117 | 0 | 4.29% | ||
2017 | 111 | 0 | 1.52% | ||
2022 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1.77% | |
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly | |||||
1990 | 57 | 0 / 200 | 0.79% | ||
1993 | 50 | 0 / 200 | 0.56% | ||
1998 | 108 | 2 / 200 | 2 | 2.17% | |
2003 | 124 | 2 / 200 | 3.97% | ||
2008 | 199 | 6 / 200 | 4 | 7.60% | |
2013 | 199 | 3 / 200 | 3 | 3.37% | |
2018 | 199 | 6 / 200 | 3 | 4.03% | |
2023 [51] | 199 | 2 / 200 | 4 | 1.82% | |
Telangana Legislative Assembly | |||||
2018 | 106 | 0 / 117 | 2 | 2.10% | |
2023 | 106 | 0 / 117 | 1.37% | ||
Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly | |||||
2002 | 68 | 7 / 70 | 7 | 10.93% | - |
2007 | 70 | 8 / 70 | 1 | 11.76% | 0.83% |
2012 | 70 | 3 / 70 | 5 | 12.19% | 0.43% |
2017 | 0 / 70 | 3 | 6.98% | 5.21% | |
2022 | 54 | 2 / 70 | 2 | 4.82% | 1.16% |
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly | |||||
1989 | 372 | 13 / 425 | 13 | 9.41% | - |
1991 | 386 | 12 / 425 | 1 | 9.44% | 0.03% |
1993 | 164 | 67 / 425 | 55 | 11.12% | 1.68% |
1996 | 299 | 67 / 425 | 19.64% | 8.52% | |
2002 | 401 | 98 / 403 | 31 | 23.06% | 3.42% |
2007 | 403 | 206 / 403 | 108 | 30.43% | 7.37% |
2012 | 403 | 80 / 403 | 126 | 25.91% | 4.48% |
2017 | 403 | 19 / 403 | 61 | 22.23% | 3.71% |
2022 | 403 | 1 / 403 | 18 | 12.88% | 9.43% |
Kumari Mayawati is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1995 to 1995, 1997 to 1997, 2002 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2012. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social change for Bahujans, more commonly known as Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as religious minorities since 2003. She had also served as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 2012 to 2017 from Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati's rise from humble beginnings has been called a "miracle of democracy" by P. V. Narasimha Rao, former prime minister of India. In 1993, Kanshi Ram formed a coalition with the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1995. She was the first female Scheduled Caste chief minister in India. In 1997 and in 2002 she was chief minister with outside support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the second time only for a year up to 26 August 2003 due to BJP withdrawing support. Mayawati's tenure has attracted praise and criticism. Millions of Dalits across India popularly view her as an icon, and refer to her as Behen-ji and Iron lady. She has been praised for her fundraising efforts on behalf of her party and her birthdays have been widely celebrated by her supporters. On the contrary, the rise in her personal wealth and that of her party have been criticised as indicative of corruption.
Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) is an Indian political party active in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The Rashtriya Swabhiman Party (RSP) is a political party in India, previously known as Lok Parivartan Party (LPP). Some of the members from the group are related to the Bahujan Samaj Swabhiman Sangharsh Samiti (BS-4).
Kanshi Ram, also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower caste people including untouchable groups at the bottom of the caste system in India. Towards this end, Kanshi Ram founded Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), the All India Backwards (SC/ST/OBC) and Minorities Communities Employees' Federation (BAMCEF) in 1971 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. He ceded leadership of the BSP to his protégé Mayawati who has served four terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
The 2007 Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election was held during April–May 2007. It was held to elect a government for the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
Sone Lal Patel was an Indian politician active in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He was the founder of the political party Apna Dal and one of the founding members of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Babu Singh Kushwaha is an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh, serving as chief of the Jan Adhikar Party and former Family Welfare Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government under Mayawati. He was at the center of controversy in the NRHM scam and was alleged to have killed two chief medical officers.
The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election followed as a result the expiration of the five-year term of the previous legislature elected in Uttar Pradesh, India. The election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held in seven phases from 8 February through 3 March 2012. Uttar Pradesh has the world's largest population for a sub-national democracy. The incumbent chief minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, which previously won an absolute majority of seats, was defeated by Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, which gained an absolute majority in the election. Mulayam's son and Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav was nominated as chief minister by the party.
Dara Singh Chauhan is an Indian politician, currently serving as member of legislative council, and formerly represented the Madhuban in Uttar Pradesh as a member of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was former Cabinet Minister in Yogi Adityanath ministry. He also represented Ghosi in the 15th Lok Sabha, where he was leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In 16th Lok Sabha, he was defeated by Harinarayan Rajbhar who represented Bharatiya Janata Party by more than 140,000 votes.
Keshav Prasad Maurya is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Maurya was associated with a right-wing Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, before entering active politics through BJP. He was also involved in cow protectionism in his early life. Before 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, he was made state president of the BJP, and after the victory of BJP, he was appointed as Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in the first Yogi Adityanath Government. Maurya again contested the legislative assembly elections in 2022 from Sirathu Assembly constituency, losing to Pallavi Patel of Samajwadi Party. However, he was given a second term as Deputy CM in the second Yogi Adityanath government.
Dinanath Bhaskar is an Indian politician active in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Once a close associate of Kanshi Ram, he was a founding member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and was Minister for Health during the state's coalition government of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP in 1993. He quit the BSP to join the SP in 1996, rejoined the BSP around 2009 and in 2015 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Gutiyari Lal Duwesh is an Indian politician and member of the 15th and the 16th Legislative assemblies of Uttar Pradesh. Duwesh represented the Agra Cantt. constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party political party. On 12 March 2019, in Lucknow he has joined Bhartiya Janata Party and left Bahujan Samaj Party having the Supremo Km. Mayawati. This is one of the biggest shocks to the B.S.P. because since then, nothing is running smoothly in B.S.P. community.
Swami Prasad Maurya is an Indian politician and was a member of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh of India. He represented the Padrauna constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of Samajwadi Party till 2024 to which he resigned. Maurya has been a Member of the legislative assembly for five terms, has been a minister in the government of Uttar Pradesh, Leader of the house, and Leader of the opposition. He was serving as Cabinet Minister for Labour, Employment and Co-ordination in Yogi Adityanath ministry. Until 2021, he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party which he joined after a long stint with Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Manyawar Shri Kanshiram Ji Green Eco Garden are ecological gardens in Lucknow city named after Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram.
The election to the 17th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held from 11 February to 8 March 2017 in 7 phases. This election saw a voter turnout of 61.11% compared to 59.40% in the previous election.
The Bhim Army, alternatively Bheem Army or the Bheem Army Bharat Ekta Mission is an Ambedkarite and Dalit rights organisation in India. It was founded by Satish Kumar, Vinay Ratan Singh and Chandra Shekhar Aazad in 2015. The organisation runs more than 350 free schools for Dalits and Bahujans in the districts of Saharanpur, Meerut, Shamli and Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh. The organisation is named after B. R. Ambedkar.
Ritesh Pandey is an Indian politician serving as the Member of Parliament from Ambedkar Nagar constituency. He was a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Pandey resigned from Bahujan Samaj Party and joined Bharatiya Janata Party in February 2024. He was also a MLA from Jalalpur constituency in Ambedkar Nagar district, which he represented between June 2017 and May 2019 before elected as MP in. He was appointed the Leader of the BSP in the Lok Sabha in January 2020. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Deputy Leader. According to his election filing he has 30 crores as his assets.
Ram Prasad Chaudhary is an Indian politician and a member of the 9th Lok Sabha, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh. He represents the Kaptanganj constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Samajwadi Party. He earlier also served as Minister of State in Mayawati cabinet (1997), Minister of Textile and silk industry in Kalyan Singh government (1997) and Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in Mayawati cabinet (2007–2012).
The Mahagathbandhan, or MGB, or simply the Gathbandhan (Alliance), was an anti-Congress, anti-BJP, Indian political alliance formed in the run-up to the 2019 general election under the leadership of two former Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party, along with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Kunwar Danish Ali is an Indian politician and a Member of parliament, Lok Sabha for Amroha, Uttar Pradesh since 2019.
{{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)