Rashtriya Lok Samata Party | |
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Abbreviation | RLSP |
President | Upendra Kushwaha |
Founder | Upendra Kushwaha |
Founded | 3 March 2013 |
Dissolved | 14 March 2021 |
Split from | Janata Dal (United) |
Merged into | Janata Dal (United) |
ECI Status | State Party |
Alliance | National Democratic Alliance (2014—2018) United Progressive Alliance (2018—2020) Grand Democratic Secular Front (2020—2021) |
Election symbol | |
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Website | |
ralospa | |
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (abbreviated as RLSP; translation: National People's Equity Party) was a political party in India led by Upendra Kushwaha. It was launched on 3 March 2013 and was based in the state of Bihar. [1] [2] The party came into existence as a result of a feud between Nitish Kumar and Upendra Kushwaha, after which Kushwaha left The Nitish Kumar lead Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party. [3] It has faced multiple rebellions and desertions since 2015. [4] [5] [6] After the relations between Nitish and Kushwaha normalized, Upendra Kushwaha merged RLSP into JDU on March 14th 2021, with this, the party ceased to exit. [7]
Upendra Kushwaha was dismissed from the Janata Dal (United) in 2007. [8] Kushwaha founded the Rashtriya Samata Party in February 2009. The party was formed in the backdrop of alleged marginalisation of the Koeri caste and autocratic rule by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. The formation of the party was supported by Chhagan Bhujbal, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. [9] In November 2009, the party was merged into the Janata Dal (United) with the mending of ties between Kushwaha and Kumar. [8]
On 4 January 2013, Upendra Kushwaha who at the time was a Rajya Sabha member resigned from the Janata Dal (United). He alleged that the Nitish model had failed and that the law and order situation was becoming as bad as it had been 7 years ago. He further alleged that the Nitish Kumar runs his government through autocratic means and that he had turned the Janata Dal (United) into his "pocket organisation". [3]
Kushwaha launched the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in a rally in Gandhi Maidan, Patna on 3 March 2013. [10] The party's base was reported to be primarily among the member of Koeri or Kushwaha caste, which is recognised as a dominant Backward Caste in state of Bihar. [lower-alpha 1] At the time of formation, Kushwaha had stated that the party will attempt to overthrow the National Democratic Alliance in the state of Bihar. However, following the departure of the Janata Dal (United) from the alliance, the party joined the National Democratic Alliance. [12] In the subsequent 2014 Indian general election, it contested 3 parliamentary seats in Bihar (Sitamarhi, Karakat and Jahanabad) as part of the alliance and won all of them. [13] Upendra Kushwaha was elected from the Karakat constituency and was appointed as the Minister of State of Human Resource Development. [14] In the following 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, the party contested 23 out of 243 seats as part of the alliance but was able to have its representative elected from only two seats. [15]
From late 2015 onward, the party was divided into two factions; one led by Upendra Kushwaha and the other led by Arun Kumar, the member of parliament from the Jahanabad constituency. In 2016, the faction of Arun Kumar held a meeting which announced the replacement of Kushwaha with Arun Kumar as the leader of the party. Lalan Paswan, a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the party had also attended the meeting. Kumar claimed that his faction was the real representatives of the party and decided to move to the Election Commission of India staking claim to the party name and symbol while further accusing Kushwaha of adopting autocratic means of running the party. In retaliation, the Kushwaha faction constituting the disciplinary committee of the party recommended the suspension of both Arun Kumar and Lalan Paswan for "indiscipline and anti-party activities". The disciplinary committee was headed by Ram Kumar Sharma, the other member of parliament from the party. [16]
In June 2018, the party formally split with the faction of Arun Kumar forming the Rashtriya Samata Party (Secular). [4] In the same year, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party left the National Democratic Alliance. The party had been involved in an argument with the alliance over seat sharing arrangement for the upcoming general election while targeting the Janata Dal (United) which had rejoined the alliance. [17] This led to rebellion from all the three state legislators of the party, who declared that they represented the real party, raising objections that they intended to remain in the alliance. The legislators were at the time attempting to get Sudhanshu Shekhar included in the Council of Ministers of Bihar which was led by Nitish Kumar. Shekhar was one of the legislators of the state party in Bihar. [18] However on 20 December 2018, Upendra Kushwaha declared that the party had joined the opposition United Progressive Alliance. [19] Earlier in 2017, the Nagmani led Samras Samaj Party had been merged into the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. [20] Nagmani was subsequently made the national executive of the party. In February 2019, he was sacked from the post for alleged "anti-party" activities following which he resigned from the party on grounds that Upendra Kushwaha was allegedly selling party tickets for the upcoming election. [21] [5]
In the 2019 Indian general election, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party contested on 5 parliamentary seats as part of the United Progressive Alliance with Upendra Kushwaha contesting from two seats. [22] The party was however unable to win on a single seat while the alliance won just one seat in Bihar. [23] Following the election, all the three formerly dissident state legislators of the party joined the Janata Dal (United). [6]
In the wake of the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, Upendra Kushwaha pulled the party out of the Rashtriya Janata Dal led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), [24] the extension of the United Progressive Alliance in Bihar. [25] The party entered into an alliance with the Uttar Pradesh based Bahujan Samaj Party and the minor Janatantrik Party (Socialist); [26] according to Kushwaha both the major alliances were no different from each other. [27] According to the Dainik Bhaskar , the unorthodox alliance was symptomatic of a pattern of shrinking space for smaller parties leaving them with less leverage in seat sharing negotiations within larger alliances. [28] Following the new arrangement, the state president of the party, Bhudeo Choudhary resigned from his position and joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal. [29] This was followed by the national general secretary Madhav Anand resigning from his party membership while stating that the decision for an alliance with minor players was "inconsequential" and could potentially finish the party. [26] Subsequently, the new state president of the party, Bharat Bind resigned to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal as well. [24]
During the campaign stage, the new coalition was merged with another smaller one consisting of the Telangana based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Devendra Prasad Yadav led Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic to form the Grand Democratic Secular Alliance, this alliance also included the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and declared Upendra Kushwaha as the candidate for the position of Chief Minister of Bihar. [30] In the meantime, the former member of the legislative assembly Ajay Pratap joined the party. [31]
Relying upon its vote base which is Kushwaha caste, RLSP fielded 40% Kushwaha candidates in the elections . The Grand Democratic Secular Front of which RLSP was a constituent member relied primarily upon the votes of castes like Kushwahas, Ravidasis, and Muslims . RLSP in the first phase of elections contested a total of 42 seats amongst which it gave ticket to 17 candidates of Kushwaha caste while its ally AIMIM placed its candidates in Muslim dominated areas of Bihar. [32] Similarly in the list of its 37 candidates in the second phase also Koeri candidates were dominant accounting for 18 seats. [33]
RLSP failed to grab any seat but its allies AIMIM and BSP ended up getting 6 seat overall. The percentage of vote earned by AIMIM was smaller as compared to the RLSP but unlike the former it emerged stronger in the Simanchal region of Bihar. [34] It also showed its strong presence on many seats including Dinara and Saffron. [35] [36]
Following the poor performance of the party in 2020 Bihar assembly elections, the speculation of Upendra Kushwaha's merger with JD(U) rose again. This speculation, however was not clear until March 2021, which led many party leaders including acting state president of RLSP, Veerendra Kushwaha joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The party finally merged into JDU, from which it was formed as a result of split in 2013 and Kushwaha was made the president of parliamentary board of the JD(U). The merger and the heartwarming welcome to Upendra Kushwaha was seen as the attempt to revive JD(U)'s old social coalition of Kurmi-Koeri castes, which was utilised by Nitish Kumar to oust the Rashtriya Janata Dal from power after the 1990s. [37]
Election | Votes | Seats | Coalition | Ref. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | ± | Pos. | # | ± | Pos. | |||
2015 | 976,940 | 2.56 | ![]() | 6th | 2 / 243 | ![]() | 7th | National Democratic Alliance | [38] |
2020 | 744,221 | 1.77% | ![]() | TBA | 0 / 243 | ![]() | 2 | Grand Democratic Secular Front | |
Election | Votes | Seats | Coalition | Ref. | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | ± | Pos. | # | ± | Pos. | |||
2014 | 2,460,537 | 6.97 | ![]() | 6th | 3 / 40 | ![]() | 4th | National Democratic Alliance | [39] [40] |
2019 | 1,462,518 | 3.66 | ![]() | 6th | 0 / 40 | ![]() | ![]() | United Progressive Alliance | [41] |
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right to right-wing conservative Indian political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded in 1998 and currently controls the government of India as well as the government of 17 Indian states and one Union territory.
Janata Dal (United) (lit. 'People's Party (United)'), abbreviated as JD(U), is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. JD(U) heads the government in Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and is also a member of the ruling government in Manipur. JD(U) won 16 seats in the 2019 Indian general election, making it the seventh largest party in the Lok Sabha.
Nitish Kumar is an Indian politician who has served as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest serving chief minister, and also holding the post for 9th term.
Alok Kumar Mehta is an Indian politician from the state of Bihar. He is a founder member of Rashtriya Janata Dal and has served as Principal General Secretary of the party. Mehta is said to be political mentor of Tejashwi Yadav.
Kushwaha is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris and Muraos. Under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, the Kushwahas are classified as a "Backward" or Other backward class. The Kushwaha had worshipped Shiva and Shakta, but beginning in the 20th century, they claim descent from the Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. At present, it is a broad community formed by coming together of several caste groups with similar occupational backgrounds and socio-economic status, who, over the time, started inter-marrying among themselves and created all India caste network for caste solidarity. The communities which merged into this caste cluster includes Kachhi, Kachhwaha, Kushwaha, Mali, Marrar, Saini, Sonkar, Murai, Shakya, Maurya, Koeri and Panara.
The politics of Bihar, an eastern state of India, is dominated by regional political parties. As of 2021, the main political groups are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) (JDU), Indian National Congress (INC), Left Front, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). There are also some smaller regional parties, including Samata Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, Rashtriya Jan Jan Party, Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal, Jan Adhikar Party and Vikassheel Insaan Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which play a vital role in politics of state. As of 2024, Bihar is currently ruled by NDA, after JDU break out from Mahagatbandhan (Grandalliance) coalition and returned to NDA fold.
Mahabali Singh Kushwaha(born 20 April 1955) is an Indian politician belonging to Bhabua, Kaimur district, Bihar. He was a member of the Indian Parliament, representing Karakat.
Bhudeo Choudhary is an Indian politician currently serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Dhoraiya seat in Bihar representing the Rashtriya Janata Dal and former member of parliament. He has been the state president of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party in Bihar till September 2020. Prior to the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020, he joined Rashtriya Janata Dal. He has also been the representative of the Dhauraiya constituency in the Bihar Legislative Assembly from 2000 to 2009. Choudhary was elected to the Indian parliament in 2009 for one term as the representative of the Jamui constituency. He is a former member of the Janata Dal (United).
Upendra Kumar Singh, commonly known as Upendra Kushwaha is an Indian politician, and a former Member of Bihar Legislative Council and Bihar Legislative Assembly. He has also served as Minister of State for Human Resources and Development in the Government of India. Kushwaha is a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the Karakat constituency in Rohtas district, Bihar, and a former member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the leader of Rashtriya Samata Party (RSP), his own party, which merged into Janata Dal (United) (JDU) in 2009. Later, he formed Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which also merged with JD(U) in 2021. On 20 February 2023, Kushwaha resigned from all positions in Janata Dal (United) and formed his own party called Rashtriya Lok Morcha due to his political problems with JD(U) and Nitish Kumar.
Kushwaha Ram Kumar Sharma is an Indian politician and a member of parliament from Sitamarhi, Bihar. He won the 2014 Indian general election being a Rashtriya Lok Samta Party candidate.
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The Rashtriya Lok Morcha, originally established as Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal is an Indian political party formally announced by Upendra Kushwaha on 20 February 2023, in Bihar after resignation from Janata Dal (United). The party's ideology is based on the ideals of Karpoori Thakur. The foundation of the party was preceded by a two day conference organised by Upendra Kushwaha in Patna, in which he invoked the participation of all the members of Mahatama Phule Samata Parishad, a socio-political organisation and his trusted aides in Janata Dal (United). In the backdrop of this conference the foundation of the party was announced.
Notes
Citations
Parties are disengaging from alliances simply because their space in Alliance Politics is getting smaller. The scope for contested seats is diminishing.
Trans.:In the assembly elections, political parties are putting up more candidates for their base vote castes. The RLSP, the main constituent of the Grand Democratic Secular Front, considers the Kushwaha (Koeri) society its base vote. This front consists of 6 parties. Of these, RALOSPA will contest the most seats. The party will contest elections on more than 100 seats, including 40% Kushwaha candidates. The RLSP has fielded candidates for 42 seats in the first phase, of which 17 are Kushwaha candidates.