Bahujan Samaj Party

Bahujan Samaj Party बहुजन समाज पार्टी
Chairperson	Mayawati
All India General Secretary	Satish Chandra Mishra Naseemuddin Siddiqui Swami Prasad Maurya Veer Singh Manoj Kumar[1]
National General Secretary	Narinder Kashyap[2]
Founder	Kanshi Ram
Founded	1984
Preceded by	DS4
Headquarters	12, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, New Delhi - 110001
Student wing	never created[3]
Youth wing	never created[4]
Volunteer's wing	Bahujan Volunteer Force[5]
Membership  (2015)	14.64 million
Ideology	Human rights Social equality[6] Secularism Social justice Self respect[7]
Colours	Blue
Seats in the Rajya Sabha	10 / 245
Seats in the Lok Sabha	0 / 543
Uttar Pradesh	80 / 403
Chhatisgarh	1 / 90
Haryana	1 / 90
Jharkhand	1 / 81
Madhya Pradesh	4 / 230
Rajasthan	3 / 200
Uttarakhand	2 / 70
Vidhan Sabha Total	93 / 4,120
Vidhan Parishads	55 / 454
Website
www.bspindia.org

Bahujan Samaj Party
ECI Status	National Party[8]
Election symbol
Politics of India Political parties Elections

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national political party in India. It was formed mainly to represent Bahujans (literally meaning "People in majority"), referring to people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes (OBC) as well as minorities. The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy & Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj. The BSP was founded by charismatic leader Kanshi Ram in 1984, who was succeeded by his protégée Mayawati in 2003.^[9] The party's political symbol is an elephant. The party was the third most voted-for party in the 2014 Indian general election, but still failed to win any seats in the 16th Lok Sabha.^[10] The BSP has its main base in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Origin of the word Bahujan

The Pali word Bahujan is notably found in the literature of Buddhist texts. Gautama Buddha used this word to guide his disciples to work for the Bahujan Hitay Bahujan Sukhay (tran. Benefit and prosperity of majority people).^[11] The word Bahujan also refers to those people who are in the majority. However, the BSP has historically drawn a loyal base of voters from Dalits. It has attempted to grow nationally as well and has met with steady success.

History

The party was founded on 14 April 1984 by Kanshi Ram. Due to his deteriorating health in the 1990s, former school teacher Mayawati became the party's leader.^[9] The party's power grew quickly with seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and India's Lower House of Parliament. In 1993, following the assembly elections, Mayawati formed a coalition with Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister. In mid-1995, she withdrew support from his government, which led to a major incident where Mulayam Singh Yadav was accused of keeping her party legislators hostage to try to break her party. Since this, they have regarded each other publicly as chief rivals. Mayawati then sought the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to become Chief Minister on 3 June 1995. In October 1995 the BJP withdrew support to her and fresh elections were called after President's Rule. In 2003, Mayawati resigned from her own government proving that she was not hungry for power^[12] and asking BJP-run central government to remove Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Jagmohan.^[13] In 2007, she by leading BSP formed government with absolute majority for full five year term.^[14]

Success in 2007 UP assembly elections

Bahujan Samaj Party claims to represent the low and lowly. A man carrying the BSP flag.

The 11 May 2007, the Uttar Pradesh state assembly election results saw the BSP emerge as a single majority party, the first to do so since 1991. The BSP President Ms. Mayawati began her fourth term as Chief Minister of UP 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.^[15] 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.

BSP is now the third largest national party of India in terms of vote percentages as per 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, having 4.2% vote share across the country.^[16]

2012 UP assembly elections

Flags of "Bahujan Samaj Party" at Shivaji Park.

The party could manage only 80 seats in 2012 as against 206 in 2007 assembly elections. BSP government was the first in the history of Uttar Pradesh to complete its full five-year term.^[17] On 11 July 2012, the party in a major revamp, replaced Swami Prasad Maurya by R A Rajbhar as President of UP Unit.^[18]

Secret successor of Mayawati

On 9 August 2009, Mayawati declared that she had chosen a successor from the Dalit community who is 18–20 years her junior. She has penned down his name in a sealed packet left in the safe custody of two of her close confidantes. The name of the successor will be disclosed on her death.^[19]

Lok Sabha (Lower House)

Lok Sabha Term	Indian General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested	State ( seats )
09th Lok Sabha	1989	245	04	2.07	4.53	Punjab ( 1 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 3 )[20]
10th Lok Sabha	1991	231	03	1.61	3.64	Madhya_Pradesh(1) Punjab ( 1 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 1 )[20]
11th Lok Sabha	1996	210	11	4.02	11.21	Madhya Pradesh(2) Punjab ( 3 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 6 )
12th Lok Sabha	1998	251	05	4.67	9.84	Haryana ( 1 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 4 )
13th Lok Sabha	1999	225	14	4.16	9.97	Uttar Pradesh (14)
14th Lok Sabha	2004	435	19	5.33	6.66	Uttar Pradesh (19)
15th Lok Sabha	2009	500	21	6.17	6.56	Madhya Pradesh(1) Uttar Pradesh (20)
16th Lok Sabha	2014	503	0	4.3		NA

Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha (Lower House)

Vidhan Sabha Term	UP Elections	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
12th Vidhan Sabha	1993	164	67	11.12	28.52
13th Vidhan Sabha	1996	296	67	19.64	27.73
14th Vidhan Sabha	2002	401	98	23.06	23.19
15th Vidhan Sabha	2007	403	206	30.43	30.43
16th Vidhan Sabha	2012	403	80	25.95	25.95

Other states where BSP has a presence

Bihar Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Bihar General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
10th Vidhan Sabha	1990	164	0	0.73	1.41
11th Vidhan Sabha	1995	161	2	1.34	2.66
12th Vidhan Sabha	2000	249	5	1.89	2.47
13th Vidhan Sabha	Feb. 2005	238	2	4.41	4.50
14th Vidhan Sabha	Oct. 2005	212	4	4.17	4.75
15th Vidhan Sabha	2010	243	0	3.21	3.27
16th Vidhan Sabha	2015	243	0	2.1	2.1[21]

Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Chhattisgarh General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
2nd Vidhan Sabha	2003	54	2	4.45	9.4
3rd Vidhan Sabha	2008	90	2	6.11	6.11
4th Vidhan Sabha	2013	90	1	4.27	4.29

Delhi Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Delhi General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
1st Vidhan Sabha	1993	55	0	1.88	2.42
2nd Vidhan Sabha	1998	58	0	3.09	3.63
3rd Vidhan Sabha	2003	40	0	5.76	8.96
4th Vidhan Sabha	2008	69	2	14.05	14.05
5th Vidhan Sabha	2013	69	0	5.33	5.44
6th Vidhan Sabha	2015	70	0	1.3	1.3

Haryana Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Haryana General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
8th Vidhan Sabha	1991	26	1	2.32	7.67
9th Vidhan Sabha	1996	67	0	5.44	7.2
10th Vidhan Sabha	2000	83	1	5.74	6.22
11th Vidhan Sabha	2005	84	1	3.22	3.44
12th Vidhan Sabha	2009	86	1	6.73	7.05
13th Vidhan Sabha	2014	87	1[22]	4.37[23]	4.52

Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Himachal Pradesh General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
7th Vidhan Sabha	1990	35	0	0.94	1.76
8th Vidhan Sabha	1993	49	0	2.25	3.0
9th Vidhan Sabha	1998	28	0	1.41	3.28
10th Vidhan Sabha	2003	23	0	0.7	2.02
11th Vidhan Sabha	2007	67	1	7.40	7.37
12th Vidhan Sabha	2012	67	0	1.7	2.02

Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Jammu and Kashmir General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
9th Vidhan Sabha	1996	29	4	6.43	15.07[24]
10th Vidhan Sabha	2002	33	1	4.50	7.86[25]
11th Vidhan Sabha	2008	83	0	3.73	3.73[26]
12th Vidhan Sabha	2014	50	0	1.41	2.07[27]

Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Jharkhand General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
3rd Vidhan Sabha	2009	78	0	2.44	2.55[28]
4th Vidhan Sabha	2014	41[29]	1[30]	1.4	1.8

Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Madhya Pradesh General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
9th Vidhan Sabha	1990	183	2	3.54	5.89
10th Vidhan Sabha	1993	286	2	7.05	7.86
11th Vidhan Sabha	1998	170	11	6.15	11.39
12th Vidhan Sabha	2003	157	2	7.26	10.62
13th Vidhan Sabha	2008	230	7	8.97	9.29
14th Vidhan sabha	2013	227	4	6.29	6.42

Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Maharashtra General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
8th Vidhan Sabha	1990	122	0	0.42	0.98
9th Vidhan Sabha	1995	145	0	1.49	2.82
10th Vidhan Sabha	1999	83	0	0.39	1.24
11th Vidhan Sabha	2004	272	0	4.0	4.18
12th Vidhan Sabha	2009	287	0	2.35	2.42
13th Vidhan Sabha	2014	260[31]	0	2.3[32]

Punjab Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Punjab General Election	Seats Contested	Seats won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
10th Vidhan Sabha	1992	105	9	16.32	17.59
11th Vidhan Sabha	1997	67	1	7.48	13.28
12th Vidhan Sabha	2002	100	0	5.69	6.61
13th Vidhan Sabha	2007	115	0	4.13	4.17
14th Vidhan Sabha	2012	117	0	4.28	4.28

Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Rajasthan General Election	Seats Contested	Seats Won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
9th Vidhan Sabha	1990	205	0	0.79	2.54
10th Vidhan Sabha	1993	50	0	0.56	2.01
11th Vidhan Sabha	1998	108	2	2.17	3.81
12th Vidhan Sabha	2003	124	2	3.97	6.40
13th vidhan sabha	2008	199	6	7.60	7.66
14th vidhan sabha	2013	199	3	3.37	3.48

Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha

Vidhan Sabha Term	Uttarakhand General Election	Seats Contested	Seats Won	% of Votes	% of Votes in seats contested
1st Vidhan Sabha	2002	68	7	10.93	11.20
2nd Vidhan Sabha	2007	69	8	11.76	11.76
3rd Vidhan Sabha	2012	70	3	12.19	12.19

See also

• Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2012
• Manyawar Kanshi Ram Saheb
• Behan Kumari Mayawati
• Dalit Buddhist movement
• Dalit Nationalism
• Manyawar Shri Kanshiram Ji Green Eco Garden
• Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal, Gomti Nagar
• Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden, Noida

References

1. India (4 February 2015). "Maya’s personal aide is named party’s new general secretary". The Indian Express. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
2. "Narinder Kashyap".
3. BSP does not have a student or youth wing.
4. "The BSP does not have any youth wing".
5. "Eye on 2014, BSP to double volunteer force". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
6. "Deccan Herald - 'BSP stands for social equality'". Deccan Herald. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
7. "Ms. Mayawati said she would devote her life for the self-respect movement.".
8. "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 13.01.2015" (PDF) (in Chinese). Retrieved 2015-09-17.
9. "Kanshi Ram declares Mayawati as his successor". Rediff News.
10. ZeeNews. Lok Sabha polls: Parties corner vote share, but fail to win seats
11. "Bahujan Hitaya, Bahujan Sukhaya ( For the Welfare and Happiness of the Many) Day". Nagaloka News.
12. "Uttar Pradesh chief quits". BBC NEWS. 26 August 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
13. "Mayawati offers to resign". timesofindia-economictimes. 25 August 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
14. "Mayawati rules Uttar Pradesh". India Today. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
15. "Mayawati takes oath as UP CM". NDTV.
16. "BSP gets third-largest vote share, but no seat". Business Standard.
17. http://eciresults.nic.in/PartyWiseResult.htm
18. "BSP replaces U.P. chief". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 12 July 2012.
19. "Mayawati talks of a secret successor : India". Nerve.in. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
20. "Members : Lok Sabha". IIS Windows Server. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
21. "Bihar polls: In NDA vs Grand Alliance fight, BSP fails to make mark".
22. "Tek Chand Sharma won the lone seat for the party from the Prithla seat in Faridabad by a margin of 1,179 votes".
23. "ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA GENERAL\BYE ELECTION TO LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES TRENDS & RESULT 2014".
24. "1996 - Election Commission of India" (PDF).
25. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 2002" (PDF).
26. "BSP have failed to make a mark".
27. "STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL LECTION,2014 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF Jammu & Kashmir" (PDF).
28. "2009 - Election Commission of India" (PDF).
29. "41 in Jharkhand".
30. "Bahujan Samaj Party makes debut with 1/81 score".
31. "BSP had contested on 260 seats in Maharashtra.".
32. "ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA GENERAL\BYE ELECTION TO LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES TRENDS & RESULT 2014".

External links

• Bahujan Samaj Party official website (I)
• Election Commission of India
• Information About Uttar Pradesh Elections