Samajwadi Party

From the Hindi word Samajwadi, meaning "socialist," the Samajwadi Party is a major regional political party in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India. The party ascribes to socialist ideals based on the governmental, collective ownership of businesses and property, and the distribution of assistance and equal rights to all castes of citizens. Founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1992, the party came to prominence under Yadav in 1993 and 2003, with Yadav’s elections to chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The party had another resurgence in 2012 under Yadav’s son, Akhilesh Yadav. Although the party under the Yadav family achieved many goals, it faced stiff social and political competition. In 2019, facing waning influence, Akhilesh Yadav declared that the party hierarchy would be dissolved, reevaluated, and reassembled in hopes of restoring Samajwadi power. By the mid-2020s, the party had regained much of its political power.

Background

The Samajwadi Party is based in Uttar Pradesh, the fifth-largest state in India. Although it contains only about 7.3 percent of national land, Uttar Pradesh is home to approximately 16 percent of India’s population. The state encompasses about 18 divisions, 75 districts, and 915 urban areas, including its capital city, Lucknow. Uttar Pradesh is a historical and cultural hub of India and a central region for politics. Its population of about 250 million people contributes many hundreds of representatives and officials to local, state, and national governments.

When the Samajwadi Party formed in Lucknow in 1992 and spread throughout the state, many people in Uttar Pradesh supported the ideals of socialism. Socialism is a complex theory of politics and economy that is similar to communism. Socialists support governmental ownership and management of businesses and many other features of society. A fully socialist government controls all goods and their distribution, making all industry and property collective, to be shared among all citizens in a manner deemed fair by the leaders. Influenced by socialist theorist Ram Manohar Lohia, the founders of the Samajwadi Party declared their goal to be the spreading of social equality, particularly among social castes that, in Indian society, have been traditionally underrepresented in politics.

Overview

Mulayam Singh Yadav, formerly a member of the Janata Dal, or People’s Party, founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992. Inspired by the teachings of Ram Manohar Lohia, Yadav created a new party dedicated to the ideals and practice of socialism. Based in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, the party immediately became a major political force.

The following year, Yadav was elected Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, and he began implementing the goals of his new party. Yadav built alliances with representatives and supporters of the state’s lower classes, often considered “untouchable” people, as well as oppressed Muslim minorities. However, Yadav’s first term in office was brief, although the Samajwadi Party remained a significant factor in the state assemblies. Yadav moved to a brief stint as defense minister of India, an office he held from 1996 to 1998.

In 2003, Yadav was reelected to the post of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, again resuming the policies of the Samajwadi Party. However, their power was limited and checked by many political and social opponents. In coming elections, Yadav was replaced as Chief Minister, and the representation of the Samajwadi Party waned.

The fortunes of the Samajwadi Party turned again in 2012. In March of that year, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son, Akhilesh Yadav, was elected to Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He followed many of his father’s policies and eventually took control of the Samajwadi Party.

One of the primary goals of the Samajwadi Party in the twenty-first century has been to improve transportation within India. In 2013, under the guidance of Akhilesh Yadav, work crews proceeded with a 2008 plan to bring a major metro railway system to Uttar Pradesh. This system, the Lucknow Metro, began construction in September 2014. It was completed within three years, the fastest metro construction ever in India. Simultaneously, crews were also constructing another major transportation improvement, also overseen by Yadav. This was the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, a 6- to 8-lane tolled highway reaching some 188 miles (302 kilometers) across Uttar Pradesh.

Other major initiatives overseen by Samajwadi Party officials involve expanded social services. In 2012, Yadav instituted a new hotline called the 1090 Women Power Line, meant to help women anonymously report cases of sexual harassment and other sexual offenses that may be stressful or difficult to report in person. That same year, the Lohiya Awas Yojana housing scheme created more opportunities for low-income, urban individuals to find government-funded housing. Other social services instituted under Samajwadi initiatives included modernized, strengthened, and better-funded police forces and government-funded around-the-clock emergency ambulance services.

Samajwadi officials also pushed for improvements in India's economy and industries. New thermal power plants green-lighted by Yadav began construction in December 2016. The Kamdhenu Yojana is a plan to help dairy farmers get the materials they need to improve production throughout Uttar Pradesh. Kisan Avam Sarvhit Bima Yojana is a 2016 plan that helped farmers inherit and bequeath their land. Additionally, the Kisan Bazaar system, established by Yadav’s party in 2016, establishes easily accessible central marketplaces for agriculturalists to sell crops and buy needed goods for fair prices.

A major feature of the Samajwadi Party is the National Conference, an event that gives party members opportunities to choose leaders, review changes in the country, and decide upon and promote new initiatives. Each National Conference marks an important milestone in the party's history and development. Such conferences have taken place in areas such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Patna, and Agra.

Despite the resurgence of the Samajwadi Party in 2012 and the largely successful run of Akhilesh Yadav, the party’s strength waned again in the late 2010s in the competitive field of Indian politics. Despite some dissent within the party, Yadav won reelection as party president at the 2017 national convention. In 2019, troubled by waning Samajwadi influence in elections, Yadav announced plans unprecedented in party history. He decided to dissolve the entire party structure throughout Uttar Pradesh and have each official reevaluated before allowing them to return to their former posts. Many people considered this move radical, but Yadav defended it as a necessary measure to return the party to power.

Despite working with the Bahujan Samaj Party in the 2019 general elections, the Samajwadi Party only won five seats, and in the Lok Sabha Elections, they won a record-low forty-nine seats. Yadav won reelection as party president at the 2022 national convention. In 2023, the party joined the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in anticipation of the 2024 general election. The group formed as a multi-party political alliance led by the Indian National Congress to oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Democratic Alliance. The groups won 234 seats by working together, taking the majority from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Samajwadi Party won thirty-seven seats.

Bibliography

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