Samajwadi party

The evolution of the Samajwadi Party in the political arena of Uttar Pradesh is a major event.

The Samajwadi Party was established on October 4, 1992 in the historic Begum Hazrat Mahal Park in Lucknow and now it is a state political party that wields great muscle power in the Indian state.

It portrays itself as a democratic socialist party and is mainly symbolized representing the caste group called Other Backward Classes. Its aim is to promote backward classes and provide social justice....
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Samajwadi party News

About Samajwadi party

History of the Samajwadi Party

The evolution of the Samajwadi Party in the political arena of Uttar Pradesh is a major event. The Samajwadi Party was established on October 4, 1992 in the historic Begum Hazrat Mahal Park in Lucknow and now it is a state political party that wields great muscle power in the Indian state. It portrays itself as a democratic socialist party and is mainly symbolized representing the caste group called Other Backward Classes. Its aim is to promote backward classes and provide social justice.

Party Symbol

The party claims to provide great relevance to the development of common man and keeping this view, the election sign of this party is the vehicle of the common man – the bicycle.

Major Leaders of the Samajwadi party

The main political figure of this party is Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav who is a seasoned and well-tempered politician with huge experience of politics at the grassroots level. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the defense minister of India. Yadav worked as a Socialist and had been with numerous parties such as the Janata Party, Lok Dal and Janata Dal, before establishing the Samajwadi Party. Another influential leader of the party is Akhilesh Yadav who is the son of Mr. Mulayam Singh and is currently the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh since March 2012. He is a member of the Samajwadi Party, and the youngest person to serve as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Electoral Account

Samajwadi Party does not have a very old history. This party has contested Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections all over the nation but has succeeded only in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party won 7 seats in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh in the year 2003 and gained the status of the third largest party in the state. When its contestants won the by-election of Lanji (Balaghat) in 2007, its total tally reached that status.

In the 15th Lok Sabha, it had 22 members. That also made the Samajwadi party to reach third rank in the house. During 2005, former Karnataka Chief Minister Bangarappa resigned from the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party. He effectively held his Lok Sabha seat representing Shimoga on the Samajwadi ticket. In the Uttar Pradesh legislative election, the SP grabbed only 96 seats as compared to 146 in the previous elections in the 2007. Consequently, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had to quit with his competitor Mayawati taking oath. Mayawati is the party leader of the BSP which gained 207 seats and she took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi party regained power with phenomenal success in the following elections, with a majority in the House in the 2012 legislative assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh and formed the Government in the state. This was anticipated to be the fifth term of Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister of state, but he selected his son, Akhilesh Yadav, to become the new chief minister thus making him the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Ideology:

The basic philosophy of the Samajwadi Party consists of ideals of democracy, personal freedom, nationalism, social equality, radical economic change, decentralization of political and economic power, initiation of small unit technology to prevent alienation of man that modern industrial civilization has caused and adoption of methods of civil disobedience and satyagrah. It is assessed that the new party was started essentially as a caste based party. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav with his personal charisma and dynamism succeeded to mobilize a huge population belonging to the OBC, Dalit and minorities.

Samajwadi Party and Ram Manohar Lohia

The Samajwadi Party has an ideology believed to create a socialist society, which works on the rules of equality and the party has a secular and autonomous viewpoint. The Samajwadi Party has a strong vision to continually enhance weaker sections of society and it always stands against communal forces. Freedom fighter, communist and a great Parliamentarian, Mr. Ram Manohar Lohia is the main personality whose principles are followed by the Samajwadi Party. Ram Manohar Lohia ji's honesty, unselfish struggle for India's autonomy and his great efforts to connect people of all parts of society has encouraged many political leaders, youngsters and workers in the Samajwadi party. Lohia had struggled a lot for the welfare of the people and was sent to jail by the British several times during the freedom fight and he fought severely in his life time for social fairness. Lohia's ability to stimulate the people with his burning articles on Satyagraha and his instinctive knowledge of social problems made him the leading socialist leader of India which is the inspiration for the Samajwadi party. Lohia's 'Do or Die' spirit is a motivation and major guideline for the Samajwadi Party to develop policies and fight for social improvement of the poor people, backward and communally and culturally weaker sections.

Communist leanings of the Samajwadi Party

When assessing the Samajwadi Party's programs, it can be demonstrated that it mainly addresses working and middle class people that constitute the bulk of Indian society. The Prime focus group of the Samajwadi Party is industrial and rural labor, small peasants, artisans and small entrepreneurs. The Samajwadi program like the communists is oriented to the left, in that it advocates the decisive state intervention in favor of more privileged section of civilization. The Samajwadi Party believes that economic and political power should not be separated from people. The human and material resources from community must be developed in accordance to environment with the process of effective planning and participation at basic level. Large scale industries must be undertaken for the common welfare and Small and medium scale industries should be preferred as a rule. The common people must not be endangered by oversized political and economic structure. The Samajwadi Party's labor policies would form an integral part of Industrial strategies. According to policies, workers have right to share profits. The Samajwadi Party pledges to work for a rational strategy of income, taxes, and prices. Party anticipates that radical changes in Indian political economy may strengthen nation and contribute to international peace, welfare and justice.

Socialism and Samajwadi Party

It can be analyzed that at root level, the Samajwadi Party works on the principles of democratic socialism and resists the unrestricted entry of multinational companies into India. It always supports the notion of equality and wealth for all people of India. Samajwadi Party has set rules and policies for social elevation and believes in developing a fruitful ground for the oppressed sections of society so that every people of India can lead happy life. Samajwadi Party is a huge party and appeals to memberships from all parts of society. Samajwadi Party decisively stands for communal accord and secularism that is appreciated by many. The belief of the party is a democratic state, socialism and equal opportunity for all. Samajwadi Party has a strong objective to develop special opportunities for backward group of society that is Muslims and women. The Party is structured at the national, state, zila and municipal level. It is established, that a majority of support to this party comes from Yadavas and other similar backward classes who have a stake in the golden future of the Samajwadi Party.

Current Performance in Office

Akhilesh Yadav was accredited to garner support for the party to enable a win of 97 seats in the 2007 Vidhan Sabha elections leading to a grand total of 224. He was elected the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is the youngest leader to have held that office, being 38 years old. In July 2012, Yadav's father, who is president of the Samajwadi Party, addressed government ministers as people seemed unsatisfied with the progress made during their first four months in office. The present UP government has faced numerous challenges, such as public anger and condemnation from other political parties when the Durga Shakti Nagpal case heated up, where an Indian Administrative Service officer was suspended by his government because she ordered the destruction of an illegal mosque wall. Her suspension was withdrawn after more than two months. Another problem faced by Akhilesh government is the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots on 27 August, where 43 people died and 93 were injured, due to communal clashes between Muslim and Jat communities. It raised many questions regarding this government and the party suffered severe setback when a curfew had to be called. They were severely criticized for holding the recent cultural extravaganza at Saifai, where film personalities performed at a huge cost. People felt this amount could have been better used towards relief work for riot affected people of Muzaffarnagar. The government was also termed insensitive as they were celebrating while the janta was shivering in the cold with insufficient relief work.

Strategy 2014

For 2014 election, Samajwadi Party head Mulayam Singh Yadav has organized all things to capitalize the gains of the last assembly elections and project them onto the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. New sources have stated that Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest the 2014 parliament elections on his own strength. Mulayam is upset with the complaints of many SP workers, who have told him in the past several meetings that the ministers in the Akhilesh Yadav government and other senior leaders have disregarded their and party's interests and are working for personal satisfaction. Initially, he has developed a new state executive committee to make the party ready for the Lok Sabha elections'2014. Mr Yadav stated that individual goals and targets and work will be set for members for 2014 elections. News sources revealed that Samajwadi Party will also contest alone in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections. They are reported to contest from at least 14 of the 48 seats in the state.