Samajwadi Party

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. It is currently the third-largest party in Lok Sabha with 37 seats.

While the party is largely based in Uttar Pradesh, 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 bloc in Uttar Pradesh in terms of Lok Saba MPs. The alliance has one of the largest vote bases in the state of Uttar Pradesh in terms of the collective voting pattern, with more than 37% vote share in the 2022 assembly elections and 44% in the 2024 general elections.

History
The Samajwadi Party was one of several parties that emerged when Janata Dal fragmented into several regional parties. The party was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1992. 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.

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,  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. 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.

National Convention of January 2017
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.

Alliance
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.

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.

In the last general election, the Samajwadi Party was defeated by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh though allying with Bahujan Samaj Party. It became the thirteenth largest party in parliament. 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.

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, after BJP and the Indian National Congress.

Presence in state assemblies
The SP has two MLAs each in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and one newly elected MLA in the 2022 Gujarat assembly election.

Samajwadi Prahari and Samajwadi Sanwad
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 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. Ongoing debate on party policy comes from many of their leaders. Among them are:
 * 1) Chhatra Sabha Sanwad
 * 2) Yuvjan Sabha Sanwad
 * 3) Samajwadi prahari Sanwad
 * 4) Mulayam Singh Youth Brigade Sanwad
 * 5) Lohiya Vahini Sanwad
 * 6) Shikshak Sabha Sanwad
 * 7) Vyapar Sabha Sanwad
 * 8) Adhivakta Sabha Sanwad
 * 9) Ambedkar Vahini Samwad

Prominent members

 * Mulayam Singh Yadav, founder and former President of Samajwadi Party, former Defence minister of India and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
 * Akhilesh Yadav, President of Samajwadi Party and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
 * Azam Khan, Member of Parliament, 9 time MLA, Member of Parliament Loksabha Rampur former cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh and former Member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
 * Janeshwar Mishra, former cabinet minister, Government of India. Former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha.
 * Shivpal Singh Yadav, Former State President of Samajwadi Party, Member of Legislative Assembly from Jaswantnagar - 6th term, Former Cabinet Minister(UP Govt.), Former Leader of Opposition
 * Beni Prasad Verma, former Union Cabinet Minister of India
 * Awadhesh Prasad, General Secretary of Samajwadi Party, Former Cabinet Minister of Uttar Pradesh, founding member
 * Anantram Jaiswal former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Minister and Samajwadi Ideologist, Founding member
 * Kiranmoy Nanda, Vice President of Samajwadi Party
 * Naresh Uttam Patel, Former Uttar Pradesh State president of Samajwadi Party.
 * Professor Ram Gopal Yadav, Party Leader in Rajya Sabha
 * Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh.
 * Ram Govind Chaudhary, Leader of opposition in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
 * Indrajit Saroj, National General Secretary, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
 * Balram Yadav, 5 times elected as Member of Legislative Assembly from Atraulia Assembly constituency and 4 times as Member of Legislative Council, Former Cabinet Minister (UP Govt.), He is prominent leader in purvanchal( Eastern Uttar Pradesh).
 * Sanjay Lathar, Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
 * Dr. Sangram Yadav, 3 times Member of the Legislative Assembly (India) from Atraulia Assembly constituency and Whip/sachetak of Samajwadi party vidhan mandal dal.
 * Abu Asim Azmi, Samajwadi Party Maharashtra state President, Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and former Member of Rajya Sabha.
 * Mohan Singh, former Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha
 * Harendra Singh Malik, former MP Rajya Sabha, prominent Jat leader from Western Uttar Pradesh.
 * Pankaj Kumar Malik, MLA from Charthawal Assembly Seat.
 * Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Samajwadi Party General Secretary, Rajya Sabha MP, former Member of Lok Sabha, and former Cabinet Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
 * Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, Prominent Sikh leader and former cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh.
 * Anand Singh, leader, ex 5 time MP and MLA from Gonda district, and former Cabinet Minister of Agriculture from Uttar Pradesh Government, under Akhilesh Yadav from 2012 to 2014.

State leadership

 * Abu Asim Azmi: Maharashtra
 * Shyamlal Pal: Uttar Pradesh
 * Dr.Manoj Yadav: Madhya Pradesh
 * Satyanarayan Sachan: Uttarakhand
 * Manjappa Yadav: Karnataka
 * Devendra Upadhyaya: Gujarat
 * Manas Bhattacharya: West Bengal
 * Mukesh Yadav: Rajasthan
 * Sukhvinder Singh: Punjab
 * Dr Saji Pothen Thomas: Kerala
 * B Jagadeesh Yadav: Andhra Pradesh
 * Om Prakash Sahu:Chhattisgarh

Criticism and Controversies
The Samajwadi Party is infamous for several issues, such as political corruption, appeasement politics, support for criminals, and misogyny. Several party leaders have also been criticized for insensitive comments.

Comments on Rape
The crime of rape became a capital offence in India following the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident. Mulayam Singh Yadav opposed this change in the law, stating at an election rally in April 2014 that "Boys will be boys. Boys commit mistakes. Why Hang them for rape". Echoing similar sentiments in August 2015, Yadav remarked that gang-rapes are impractical and rape-victims in those cases tend to lie; he was subsequently summoned by the Judicial Magistrate of Mahoba district court in Uttar Pradesh for that remark. Following the trial in the Shakti Mills gang rape, SP Maharashtra chief Abu Azmi stated that that if rapists are to be punished, women indulging in consensual sex without marriage should also be hanged. Both Yadav and Azmi were heavily slammed for their insensitive comments on rape victims, and were subsequently labelled as "Supporters of Rape and Rapists".

Support for criminals
The Samajwadi Party has been slammed for supporting gangsters like Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari. Both Ahmed and Ansari have had several criminal cases against them, including murder, procuring arms illegally, property-grabbing, and assault. Ahmed was killed in April 2023 while being escorted for a court-mandated medical check, while Ansari died in prison in March 2024, while serving his sentence to a heart attack.

Sand Mining Case
During the tenure of Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister from 2012 to 2017, a major scandal erupted on illegal sand-mining which involved then minister of state of mining Gayatri Prasad Prajapati. IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal began an operation in July 2013 to end illegal sand mining by conducting raids and seizing equipment. Nagpal was later suspended by Akhilesh Yadav for demolishing a mosque wall that was in violation of Supreme Court rules, which was stated to be done out of malice. The suspension was heavily condemned by leaders of opposition and several IAS officers; it was later revoked in September 2013.

Toxic Misogyny
The Samajwadi Party has received widespread condemnation for its misogynistic and anti-women views, as well as opposing women's rights. In March 2010, the United Progressive Alliance government tried to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, which allowed 33% reservation quota to the women in the legislative bodies. Mulayam Singh Yadav opposed the bill and warned about withdrawing from the alliance, commenting that "if the bill is passed it will fill Parliament with the kind of women who invite catcalls and whistles". Yadav echoed similar comments in November 2012, stating that "the bill will benefit only rich and attractive women of the society and not those coming poor families and villages". The remarks was termed as sexist and heavily slammed by several political leaders from different parties, as well as his own party leaders.