Samajwadi Party

The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: Socialist Party, founded 4 October 1992) is a socialist political party in India. It was founded by formerly Janata Dal politicians Mulayam Singh Yadav and Beni Prasad Verma and is headquartered in New Delhi. The Samajwadi Party is currently led by former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav after he was chosen as the President at the party's national convention held in 2017. While the party is largely based in Uttar Pradesh, it has significant presence in other states as well. The party has been the ruling power 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 party and its alliance partners SP+ 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 elections. History The Samajwadi Party was one of several parties that emerged when the Janata Dal (People's League) fragmented into several regional parties. The party was founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Beni Prasad Verma in 1992. Created just months before the Babri Masjid demolition, the party is said to have played a key role in preventing violence following this event. 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 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.