1984: Kanshi Ram launches Bahujan Samaj Party
2 years, 4 months ago

1984: Kanshi Ram launches Bahujan Samaj Party

The Hindu  

Published : Aug 15, 2022 06:00 IST Although B.R. Ambedkar had formed the Independent Labour Party in 1936, the Dalit cause did not really become a political movement in north India until Kanshi Ram in 1984 established the Bahujan Samaj Party, which went on to dominate electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh and won significant gains. Kanshi Ram’s biggest success was in creating the bahujan identity that united various marginalised castes—SCs, STs, and OBCs—into one fighting unit. It was also around this time that Kanshi Ram began to groom Mayawati as his successor, who would then become India’s first Scheduled Caste Chief Minister. Although the BSP has been losing steam in UP since the arrival of the BJP, Kanshi Ram made a significant impact on the political evolution of Dalits in north India and made possible the emergence of a younger crop of Dalit leaders such as Chandrashekhar Azad and Jignesh Mevani.

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History of this topic

BJP, Congress engage in all-out war over Ambedkar issue, why Babasaheb matters in politics | EXPLAINED
3 weeks, 2 days ago

BJP, Congress engage in all-out war over Ambedkar issue, why Babasaheb matters in politics | EXPLAINED

India TV News  

Ambedkar row: The Parliament turned into a battleground on Thursday as protests led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi intensified over over the Ambedkar row. Protests against Amit Shah All the political slugfest started with Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on BR Ambedkar in the …

Mayawati unanimously re-elected BSP president
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Mayawati unanimously re-elected BSP president

The Hindu  

Mayawati, the former four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has been unanimously re-elected the Bahujan Samaj Party national president at a special meeting on Tuesday. Ms. Mayawati thanked the party for giving her responsibility and added that despite recent electoral defeats, the BSP is pursuing the goal of ‘Bahujan Hitaye and Bahujan Sukhaye’. It is stoutly pursuing the goal and welfare …

How Mayawati is trying to win back Dalit, backward caste vote base
4 months, 4 weeks ago

How Mayawati is trying to win back Dalit, backward caste vote base

India Today  

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has recently held two media conferences over the Supreme Court verdict favouring sub-classification within Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for extending reservation benefits. Till the Supreme Court order is not made ineffective through an amendment in the Constitution, state governments could use it for implementing the ‘creamy layer’ ruling and also sub-classify SCs and STs …

Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram: On BJP MP’s demand, Mayawati asks him to coax Centre to do it
5 months, 2 weeks ago

Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram: On BJP MP’s demand, Mayawati asks him to coax Centre to do it

Hindustan Times  

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has hit out at the BJP after a saffron party MP sought the Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram. BSP chief Mayawati In a post on social media platform X on Friday, the BSP chief said, “Instead of demanding Bharat Ratna for BSP’s founder Shri Kanshi Ram from UP BJP, he should immediately get it awarded …

Dalit anger threatens to trip BJP’s grip on a stronghold
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Dalit anger threatens to trip BJP’s grip on a stronghold

The Hindu  

The sun is at its peak and the yellow earth is shimmering, radiating back the heat. Meanwhile, we struggle to find two meals a day for our children”Santosh Dhimar Fear of lack of vacancies “Sab samanay ho jayenge,” and “arakshan khatam ho jayega” is a phrase repeated village after village, in this reserved constituency of Chhattisgarh, as they express fear …

BSP fields Prayagraj division in-charge from Phulpur
8 months, 3 weeks ago

BSP fields Prayagraj division in-charge from Phulpur

Hindustan Times  

A retired Territorial Army personnel, Jagannath Pal is the Bahujan Samaj Party’s choice for the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. Jagannath Pal Pal is considered a hard-working cadre of the BSP and will make his Lok Sabha poll debut from where his idol, Kanshi Ram, once fought. Kanshi Ram, the BSP founder, famously used Pal’s house as his office and control …

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9 months ago

Keeping up with UP | As young leaders emerge, Dalit community seeks their share of power

Hindustan Times  

Young leadership is taking centre stage in Dalit politics around the country and certainly in Uttar Pradesh. Anand launched his campaign on April 6 from the Muslim-Dalit dominated Nagina constituency from where another upcoming Dalit leader, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad is contesting his first Lok Sabha election as the nominee of four-year-old Azad Samaj Party that he founded in …

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Whose Ram? Nationalists vs Conservatives

The Diplomat  

In late January, a temple devoted to the Hindu god Ram was consecrated with great fanfare in India. Finally, after many court proceedings, considering communal harmony more than historical accuracy, the Indian Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the disputed ground should be split into three zones, and a mosque should be built in one spot while a Hindu temple …

Kanshi Ram should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna: Mayawati
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Kanshi Ram should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna: Mayawati

The Hindu  

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati demanded that party founder Kanshi Ram should get the Bharat Ratna on January 24, even as she welcomed the Central Government's decision to confer the award on former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur. "Today, on his 100th birth anniversary, I pay immense tribute to the great leader Shri Karpoori Thakur ji, who fought to ensure …

Keeping up with UP | BJP's welfare schemes challenge the Dalit movement's legacy
1 year ago

Keeping up with UP | BJP's welfare schemes challenge the Dalit movement's legacy

Hindustan Times  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-acclaimed scheme of distributing free ration to the poor under the Garib Kalyan Yojana Scheme came under attack recently from unusual quarters. Now they need economic empowerment and government schemes are only aiding in bringing in economic revolution,” Lalji Nirmal, chairman of the Ambedkar Mahasabha, told HT Badri Narayan Tiwari, director at Allahabad’s GB Pant Institute …

Bahujan to parivarjan, BSP’s transformation
1 year ago

Bahujan to parivarjan, BSP’s transformation

Hindustan Times  

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s announcement that her nephew Akash Anand will succeed her as party chief points to the distance the outfit has travelled since the passing of founder Kanshi Ram in 2006. Under Ram, the BSP, established in 1984, was a party that drew energy from grassroots mobilisations, especially of the Dalits. Ram, an Ambedkarite, also shaped the …

Dalit outreach: Yogi raises dropping of Kanshi Ram’s name from universities by SP
1 year, 2 months ago

Dalit outreach: Yogi raises dropping of Kanshi Ram’s name from universities by SP

Hindustan Times  

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday launched the Bharatiya Janata Party ’s drive to connect with Dalits from Hapur in west U.P. Then we wonder if they really mean it or like Kalanemi they are out to cheat,” Yogi said while blaming the then Akhilesh Yadav government of dropping Kanshi Ram’s name from universities and stopping scholarships of SC/ST students. …

U.P. Congress to start ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ on BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s anniversary
1 year, 3 months ago

U.P. Congress to start ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ on BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s anniversary

The Hindu  

The Uttar Pradesh Congress plans to start a roughly 45-day ‘Dalit Gaurav Samvad’ from October 9, the death anniversary of Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram, in an outreach effort towards Dalits. “We have planned various programmes under Dalit Gaurav Samvad. Through the events, we will discuss agendas related to Dalit issues in each parliamentary segment,” Anil Yadav, Uttar Pradesh …

Book Review: ‘Maya, Modi, Azad’ by Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar attempts to decode Dalit politics
1 year, 3 months ago

Book Review: ‘Maya, Modi, Azad’ by Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar attempts to decode Dalit politics

The Hindu  

This is a must-read for understanding why Dalits are attracted to the Hindu right wing. 599 The dominance of Hindutva politics, its appropriation of marginal groups and their symbols, the shift of Dalit votes to the BJP, the BJP’s welfare politics, and the RSS’ growing influence among marginal sections strongly indicate the end of the era of identity politics, and …

SP out to unite ‘bahujan samaj’, not dent it, says Akhilesh
1 year, 9 months ago

SP out to unite ‘bahujan samaj’, not dent it, says Akhilesh

Hindustan Times  

LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said his party is out to unite the ‘bahujan samaj’, and not make a dent in it. Without taking anyone’s name, he warned people against “those who indirectly help the BJP in elections.” •Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav during the unveiling of a statue of the late Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi …

Samajwadi Party’s hatred towards Dalits well known, says Mayawati
1 year, 9 months ago

Samajwadi Party’s hatred towards Dalits well known, says Mayawati

The Hindu  

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on April 2 hit out at the Samajwadi Party for trying to manipulate Dalit voters in the name of BSP founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram. Ms. Mayawati said the long history of the SP’s caste-driven hatred and malice towards Dalits was well known. “Samajwadi Party’s history of hatred and political malice towards Dalits, Extremely …

Akhilesh Yadav to unveil statue of BSP’s founder Kanshi Ram in Rae Bareli
1 year, 9 months ago

Akhilesh Yadav to unveil statue of BSP’s founder Kanshi Ram in Rae Bareli

The Hindu  

In an attempt at reaching out to the numerically significant Dalit community, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav is likely to unveil a statue of the late Bahujan Samaj Party founder and Dalit leader Kanshi Ram at a function in Rae Bareli on April 3. It’s interesting to note that the main organiser of the Rae Bareli function is Swami …

Revisiting Ambedkar's Politics: Representation Can Be Indian Govt's Best Tribute
2 years, 1 month ago

Revisiting Ambedkar's Politics: Representation Can Be Indian Govt's Best Tribute

The Quint  

The current regime at the centre also claims that it endorses and executes Ambedkar’s social justice agenda. Though a part of the social justice agenda can be materialised, imagining an organic Dalit-Bahujan leadership at the helm of the state power, is still a distant dream. The first—the Independent Labour Party established in 1936 had a Left-Socialist ideological baggage and raised …

Time Has Come to Become 'Ruler Society': Mayawati's Call to Bahujan Samaj
2 years, 3 months ago

Time Has Come to Become 'Ruler Society': Mayawati's Call to Bahujan Samaj

News 18  

Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati on Sunday said that “Bahujan Samaj” has got tired of demanding its constitutional and legal rights and now they have to join the campaign to become “Hukmran Samaj”. “Bahujan Samaj has got tired of demanding its constitutional and legal rights in the 75 years after Independence. Mayawati paid her tributes to Kanshiram for making “Bahujan …

Andhra Pradesh: Bahujan Samaj Party proposes implementation of job quota in private companies
2 years, 4 months ago

Andhra Pradesh: Bahujan Samaj Party proposes implementation of job quota in private companies

The Hindu  

Bahujan Samaj Party leaders Somu Rambabu and Soru Sambayya on Thursday urged the Union Government to implement reservation in jobs for Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes at private companies across the country in the backdrop of ‘large-scale privatisation of public sector units’. “The privatisation of PSUs is leading to denial of reservation to OBCs, SCs and STs,” the BSP …

The Bahujan Samaj Party faces an existential crisis
2 years, 9 months ago

The Bahujan Samaj Party faces an existential crisis

Live Mint  

Back in 2019, before the Lok Sabha polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati was being spoken about as a potential Prime Minister of India, at least in Uttar Pradesh, where I live. “Desh ka agla pradhan mantri gathbandhan dega, aur hum toh chaahenge ki koi agar aadhi aabadi se ban jaaye, toh uss se achchhi koi baat nahin hogi,” …

Behenji’s canny card in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, or is she being arm twisted?
2 years, 11 months ago

Behenji’s canny card in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, or is she being arm twisted?

Firstpost  

Surveys are giving the BSP anywhere between 15 and 20 seats. For years, Uttar Pradesh elections were incomplete without Mayawati’s savage putdowns, stinging insults and scathing criticism of the Opposition. Key BSP players like Nand Kishore and KK Gautam have left, while BSP’s legislative party leader Lalji Verma and Akbarpur MLA Ram Achal Rajbhar have been expelled. In 1993, her …

BSP leader RS Kushwaha, former party MP Kadir Rana join Samajwadi Party ahead of UP polls
3 years, 2 months ago

BSP leader RS Kushwaha, former party MP Kadir Rana join Samajwadi Party ahead of UP polls

India Today  

Bahujan Samaj Party leader RS Kushwaha and former party MP Kadir Rana have joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls due next year. The former Uttar Pradesh Bahujan Samaj Party president had met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav earlier, which had fuelled speculation. He said, "As BSP deviated from the ideology of Baba Saheb, most …

Senior BSP leader Sukhdev Rajbhar announces retirement from active politics
3 years, 5 months ago

Senior BSP leader Sukhdev Rajbhar announces retirement from active politics

India TV News  

One of the last pillars of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh has also crumbled. Former Speaker and senior BSP leader, Sukhdev Rajbhar, has announced his retirement from active politics and formally handed over the baton to his son Kamlakant Rajbhar Pappu. In an apparent reference to recent sacking of former BSP state president and MLA from Akbarpur, Ram …

After BSP, now BJP plans Brahmin outreach ahead of UP polls
3 years, 5 months ago

After BSP, now BJP plans Brahmin outreach ahead of UP polls

India Today  

The battle is on for securing Brahmin votes ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Earlier, BSP president Mayawati had announced that the party would hold Brahmin conventions across Uttar Pradesh. READ | Uttar Pradesh election 2022 to see new younger faces in Opposition Taking a jibe at Mayawati, BJP spokesperson Ashok Pandey said the former Uttar Pradesh chief …

BSP to fight solo in UP, Uttarakhand: Mayawati
3 years, 6 months ago

BSP to fight solo in UP, Uttarakhand: Mayawati

India TV News  

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday said the party will fight state assembly elections alone in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Mayawati's statement came against reports of AIMIM and BSP fighting the assembly elections together in Uttar Pradesh. Taking to Twitter, the BSP chief today said, "This news is being broadcast in a media news channel since yesterday that the …

EXPLAINED: What SAD-BSP Alliance Means For The Two Parties As They Fight To Retain Relevance In Punjab
3 years, 6 months ago

EXPLAINED: What SAD-BSP Alliance Means For The Two Parties As They Fight To Retain Relevance In Punjab

News 18  

One is a party led by Jat Sikhs, the dominant political group in Punjab, the other is regarded as the main voice of Dalit politics in India. At first sight, there is nothing the two have in common, but Shiromani Akali Dal ’s tie-up with Bahujan Samaj Party may not be as dramatic as it appears at first sight and, …

SAD-BSP Alliance and Kanshi Ram’s Grapple with Bahujan Fight in Punjab
3 years, 6 months ago

SAD-BSP Alliance and Kanshi Ram’s Grapple with Bahujan Fight in Punjab

News 18  

Ahead of the 2022 assembly elections in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party has stitched an alliance for 117 seats. Kanshi Ram emerged victorious from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat, but the party’s share in state power remained negligible as most of the Dalit voters either aligned themselves with Congress or SAD. The high point in BSP’s …

With Mayawati Missing in Action, It is Crunch Time for Dalit Politics in Uttar Pradesh
3 years, 7 months ago

With Mayawati Missing in Action, It is Crunch Time for Dalit Politics in Uttar Pradesh

News 18  

Eight months before Uttar Pradesh goes to polls, a critical aspect that defines and determines its political trajectory seems unsettled. It’s crunch time for Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh that was a crucible for the rise and empowerment of the Scheduled Castes, shepherded by the Bahujan Samaj Party, its late founder Kanshi Ram, and his protégé Mayawati who became the …

Is Asaduddin Owaisi Doing a Kanshi Ram in Politics?
3 years, 9 months ago

Is Asaduddin Owaisi Doing a Kanshi Ram in Politics?

News 18  

The late Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram’s trademark slogan was, “Jis ki jitni sankhaya bhaari, uski utni bhaagidari” numerical strength). Emulating Kanshi Ram Model One of them is Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Owaisi’s next breakthrough was in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls where he concentrated on the Seemanchal region, bordering West Bengal, the reason being it was …

On Kanshi Ram's Birth Anniversary, Remembering How he Won 1991 Lok Sabha Election from Etawah
3 years, 9 months ago

On Kanshi Ram's Birth Anniversary, Remembering How he Won 1991 Lok Sabha Election from Etawah

News 18  

Kanshi Ram, a charismatic leader, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party picked up the baton of Dalit politics in India. In 1991, Etawah’s electorate voted Kanshi Ram to power, amid 48 candidates who were in the fray for the unreserved seat in Lok Sabha constituency. With the help of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Kanshi Ram won the Lok Sabha election from …

As Mayawati Turns 65, Her Biggest Challenge Remains Reviving Party and Facing Contenders
3 years, 11 months ago

As Mayawati Turns 65, Her Biggest Challenge Remains Reviving Party and Facing Contenders

News 18  

As Bahujan Samaj Party Chief and former UP CM Mayawati celebrates her birthday today, her struggle from a simple teacher to four-time Chief Minister of the biggest state in the country has not been easy. It is the first time in her three-decade long political career that Mayawati had to lose four consecutive elections and at the same time deal …

Mayawati: PV Narsimha Rao's miracle of democracy
5 years, 9 months ago

Mayawati: PV Narsimha Rao's miracle of democracy

India TV News  

Mayawati has been touted as a firebrand Dalit leader. The Bahujan Samaj Party's national president, has, in her political career, attracted praise and criticism in equal measure and continues to do so. After losing the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to the rival Samajwadi Party, she resigned from her post as party leader on March 7, 2012. Mayawati began her …

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