The Samajwadi Party (abbr. SP; lit. 'Socialist Party') is a socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. The Samajwadi Party is currently led by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav.[14][15][16]
While the party is largely based in Uttar Pradesh,[17] it has significant presence in many other Indian states as well. It has been the ruling party in the state of Uttar Pradesh for four terms – three times under Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the fourth and most recent being Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's full majority government in the 2012-2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
The coalition of the party and its alliance partners: Samajwadi Alliance SP+ is currently the largest party in Uttar Pradesh and the third largest party in the country with over 43 Members of Parliament, and has one of the largest vote bases in the state of Uttar Pradesh in terms of the collective voting pattern in the state-based electoral system, with more than 37% vote share in the 2022 assembly elections and 44% in the 2024 general elections.[18][19]
The Samajwadi Party was one of several parties that emerged when Janata Dal fragmented into several regional parties.[20] The party was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1992.[21][22] Created just months before the Babri Masjid demolition, the party rose to power by pursuing secular politics. The support of its key voters, other backward classes and Muslims helped the party become a major political force in Uttar Pradesh.[23][24]
In West Bengal, the West Bengal Socialist Party of Kiranmoy Nanda merged with the SP in 2010. The Samajwadi Party is now led by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav.
He was chosen as the President for the first time in an Emergency meeting in 2017. He was chosen for second time in 2017 at Agra Convention of Samajwadi Party. He was chosen for the third time at the party's national convention held in September 2022 at Lucknow,[14][15][16] after he was chosen as the President at the party's national convention held on 1 January 2017.
The party have contested Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections around the country, but by far the bulk of its victories have been in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2012 legislative assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, SP registered a landslide victory with a clear majority in the house, thus enabling it to form a government in the state. This was expected to be the fifth term of Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister of state, but he selected his son, Akhilesh Yadav instead. This became official on 15 March. It was also the first time that SP was head of the UP government for a full term of five years.[25][26] However, the party suffered a landslide defeat in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election, slumping to only 47 seats as the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to victory.
In a National Convention held on 1 January 2017, called by Ram Gopal Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav was appointed as president of the Party for 5 years.[27]
The Samajwadi Party provided outside support to the United Progressive Alliance government up to the fourteenth general election. After the fourteenth general election, its support became unnecessary when the UPA became the largest alliance. It contested the 2009 general election in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party of Bihar.[28]
In April 2014, the Save Indian Family Foundation encouraged voters to support the Samajwadi Party or vote None of the above because they had said they opposed the alleged misuse of gender bias laws.[29]
In the last general election, the Samajwadi Party was defeated by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh though allying with Bahujan Samaj Party.[30] It is currently the thirteenth largest party in parliament.[31] In the general elections of 2019, it won only five seats, while the Indian National Congress gained 52 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party obtained a clear mandate with 303 seats.
Recently, Samajwadi Party joined the newly formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance formed as an umbrella alliance of opposition parties in India.[32][33][34]
Most recently, in the 2024 Indian general election, the Samajwadi Party gained a historic upheaval of seats, numbering to 37, becoming the 3rd largest Party in the 18th Lok Sabha, before BJP and the Indian National Congress.
The SP has two MLAs each in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and one newly elected MLA in the 2022 Gujarat assembly election.
Under the guidance of Kailash Chaurasia, who was the Minister of State in the Government of Uttar Pradesh and under the direction of Dr.Arvind Srivastava, Shri Shivendra Nandan [35] made the formal announcement of the formation of Samajwadi Sentinel and in this sequence, Samajwadi Samvad to put forward the public's views. He reportedly cited the fight for equal rights for all races and issues related to inequality in youth-related matters as the main issues presented. The Samajwadi Party has front line campaigning groups.[36] Ongoing debate on party policy comes from many of their leaders. Among them are:
Lok Sabha Term | Lok Sabha | Seats contested | Seats won | % of votes | State (seats) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11th Lok Sabha | 1996 | 111 | 16 | 3.3% | Uttar Pradesh (16) Bihar (1) | [37] |
12th Lok Sabha | 1998 | 166 | 19 | 4.9% | Uttar Pradesh (19) | [38] |
13th Lok Sabha | 1999 | 151 | 26 | 3.8% | Uttar Pradesh (26) | [39] |
14th Lok Sabha | 2004 | 600 | 36 | 4.3% | Uttar Pradesh (35) Uttarakhand (1) |
[40] |
15th Lok Sabha | 2009 | 193 | 23 | 3.4% | Uttar Pradesh (23) | [41] |
16th Lok Sabha | 2014 | 197 | 5 | 3.4% | Uttar Pradesh (5) | [42] |
17th Lok Sabha | 2019 | 49 | 5 | 2.6% | Uttar Pradesh (5) | [43] |
18th Lok Sabha | 2024 | 62 | 37 | 4.58% | Uttar Pradesh (37) | [44] |
Vidhan Sabha Term | UP elections | Seats contested | Seats won | % of votes | Party Votes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly | ||||||
12th Vidhan Sabha | 1993 | 256 | 109 | 17.94 | 8,963,697 | [45] |
13th Vidhan Sabha | 1996 | 281 | 110 | 21.80 | 12,085,226 | [46] |
14th Vidhan Sabha | 2002 | 390 | 143 | 25.37 | 13,612,509 | [47] |
15th Vidhan Sabha | 2007 | 393 | 97 | 25.43 | 13,267,674 | [48] |
16th Vidhan Sabha | 2012 | 401 | 224 | 29.15 | 22,107,241 | [49] |
17th Vidhan Sabha | 2017 | 311 | 47 | 21.82 | 18,923,689 | [50] |
18th Vidhan Sabha | 2022 | 347 | 111 | 32.06 | 29,543,934 | [51] |
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly | ||||||
11th Vidhan Sabha | 1998 | 228 | 4 | 1.58 | 4,19,626 | [52] |
12th Vidhan Sabha | 2003 | 161 | 7 | 3.71 | 9,46,891 | [53] |
13th Vidhan Sabha | 2008 | 187 | 1 | 1.90 | 5,01,324 | [54] |
14th Vidhan Sabha | 2013 | 161 | 0 | 1.2 | 4,04,853 | [55] |
15th Vidhan Sabha | 2018 | 52 | 1 | 1.3 | 4,96,025 | [56] |
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | ||||||
9th Vidhan Sabha | 1995 | 22 | 3 | 0.93 | 3,56,731 | [57] |
10th Vidhan Sabha | 1999 | 15 | 2 | 0.7 | 2,27,640 | [58] |
11th Vidhan Sabha | 2004 | 95 | 0 | 1.13 | 4,71,425 | [59] |
12th Vidhan Sabha | 2009 | 31 | 4 | 1.11 | 3,37,378 | [60] |
13th Vidhan Sabha | 2014 | 22 | 1 | 0.17 | 92,304 | [61] |
14th Vidhan Sabha | 2019 | 7 | 2 | 0.22 | 1,23,267 | [62] |
No. | Name Constituency |
Term of office[63][64] | Tenure length | Party[a] | Assembly[65] (Election) |
Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mulayam Singh Yadav Jaswantnagar |
4 December 1993 | 3 June 1995 | 1 year, 181 days | Samajwadi Party | Twelfth Assembly (1993–95) (1993 election) |
[66] |
(1) | Mulayam Singh Yadav Gunnaur |
29 August 2003 | 13 May 2007 | 3 years, 257 days | Samajwadi Party | Fourteenth Assembly (2002–07) (2002 election) |
[66] |
2 | Akhilesh Yadav MLC |
15 March 2012 | 19 March 2017 | 5 years, 4 days | Samajwadi Party | Sixteenth Assembly (2012–17) (2012 election) |
[67] |
No. | Name | Term of office | Portfolio | Prime Minister | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mulayam Singh Yadav | 1 June 1996 | 19 March 1998 | Minister of Defence | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral | |
2 | Janeshwar Mishra | 10 July 1996 | May 1997 | Minister of Water Resources | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral | |
3 | Beni Prasad Verma | 1 June 1996 | 19 March 1998 | Minister of Communications and Information Technology | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral | |
4 | Saleem Iqbal Shervani[68] | May 1997 | 19 March 1998 | Minister of External Affairs(M.O.S.) | I.K. Gujral |