The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) (बहुजन समाज पार्टी) is a centrist national political party in India with socialist leanings. It was formed to chiefly 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. The Origin of word "Bahujan"
The Hindi word Bahujan was first time defined by Indian revolutionary Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil in his historical novel Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot in the year 1920 when even its founder Kanshi Ram was not born. The main character of this novel is Masha - an Yahudi girl who fought against Russian System. The BSP has historically drawn a loyal base of voters from India's lowest caste (Dalit). It has attempted to grow nationally as well, but has met limited success so far. Its current majority government in Uttar pradesh was in large part due to a reach-out towards other castes even some members of the upper castes. The party emerged from Kanshi Ram's earlier activity promoting the interests of Scheduled Caste government employees. Kanshi Ram was able to promote the organisation in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Although the BSP is recognised by the Election Commission as a national party it effectively functions on certain North Indian states only. It's ideology is based on the argument that the majority are oppressed by the select upper class. It aims to change this using the government power.
History
The party was founded in 1984 by Kanshi Ram. Due to his deteriorating health in the 1990s, former school teacher Mayawati became the party's de facto leader. 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 to his government, which led to a major incident where Mulayam Singh Yadav was accused of keeping her party legislator's 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 BJP to become Chief Minister on June 3, 1995. In October 1995 the BJP withdrew support to her and fresh elections were called after President's Rule.
After the 1997 elections, no party achieved a majority. The BSP tied up with the BJP again, with an arrangement to rotate the Chief Minister's post every six months. After Mayawati's first rotation, she withdrew support to the BJP shortly into her successor's (Kalyan Singh) term. the BSP legislative party split and kept a BJP government in power for the next four-and-a-half years.
After assembly elections in 2002, the BSP tied up once again with the BJP, but this time, with Mayawati in charge as the Chief Minister throughout. In August 2003, this coalition fell as the BJP withdrew support. In what was viewed as a collaboration between the BJP and SP, the BJP assembly speaker (Lalji Tandon) recognized the split of the BSP legislative party, which allowed Mulayam Singh Yadav to become Chief Minister with rebel support.
In the interim, Mayawati began to make intense outreach to other castes, particularly Brahmins, who were traditionally wary of her. Many sitting MLA's from other parties defected to the BSP prior to the 2007 assembly elections.
Success in 2007 UP assembly election
The May 11, 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 May 13, 2007, at Rajbhawan in the state capital of Lucknow. Most importantly, the majority achieved in large part was due to the party's ability to take away majority voters from their traditional party, the BJP.
BSP is now the third largest national party of India having more than 10% vote share across the country.
Controversies
The BSP has recently been embroiled in controversy due to its leader, Mayawati's penchant for erecting her own statues along with her political mentor Kanshi Ram,and B.R. Ambedkar throughout the state of Uttar Pradesh mainly Lucknow which is the capital and Noida/ Greater Noida which is her home town. The party has also been criticised for its continuously shifting political alliances.
Secret Successor of Mayawati
On 9th Aug 2003, Mayawati declared that she had chosen a successor from the 'chamar' community and 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.
Lok Sabha (Lower House) Performance
| Lok Sabha Term | Indian General Election | Seats Contested | Seats won | % of Votes | % of Votes in seats contested | State ( seats ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09 th Lok Sabha | 1989 | 245 | 03 | 2.07 | 4.53 | Punjab ( 01 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 02 ) |
| 10 th Lok Sabha | 1991 | 231 | 02 | 1.61 | 3.64 | Madhya Pradesh ( 01 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 01 ) |
| 11 th Lok Sabha | 1996 | 210 | 11 | 4.02 | 11.21 | Madhya Pradesh ( 02 ) Punjab ( 03 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 06 ) |
| 12 th Lok Sabha | 1998 | 251 | 05 | 4.67 | 9.84 | Haryana ( 01 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 04 ) |
| 13 th Lok Sabha | 1999 | 225 | 14 | 4.16 | 9.97 | Uttar Pradesh ( 14 ) |
| 14 th Lok Sabha | 2004 | 435 | 19 | 5.33 | 6.66 | Uttar Pradesh ( 19 ) |
| 15 th Lok Sabha | 2009 | 500 | 21 | 6.17 | ..... | Madhya Pradesh ( 01 ) Uttar Pradesh ( 20 ) |
Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Performance
| Vidhan Sabha Term | Uttar Pradesh General Election | Seats Contested | Seats won | % of Votes | % of Votes in seats contested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 th Vidhan Sabha | 1989 | 372 | 13 | 9.41 | 10.72 |
| 11 th Vidhan Sabha | 1991 | 386 | 12 | 9.44 | 10.26 |
| 12 th Vidhan Sabha | 1993 | 164 | 67 | 11.12 | 28.52 |
| 13 th Vidhan Sabha | 1996 | 296 | 67 | 19.64 | 27.73 |
| 14 th Vidhan Sabha | 2002 | 401 | 98 | 23.06 | 23.19 |
| 15 th Vidhan Sabha | 2007 | 403 | 206 | 30.43 | 30.43 |
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