Rashtriya Lok Samta Party

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party or Rashtriya Lok Samata Party ( RLSP , Hindi राष्ट्रीय लोक समता पार्टी , "National Equality Party") is a small party founded in 2013 in the northern Indian state of Bihar .

history

The party was founded by Upendra Kushwaha. Kushwaha had been a member of the Janata Dal (United) (JD (U)) in the parliament of Bihar and temporarily general secretary of the JD (U) for several years , but then fell out with party leader Nitish Kumar and left the party in 2007. He was later reconciled with Kumar and returned to the JD (U) and in 2010 was elected as its member of the Rajya Sabha (the “House of States” of the Indian Parliament). Shortly afterwards, Kushwaha and Kumar fell out again. The former accused the party leader of dictatorial behavior and did not adhere to party discipline when voting. The latter tried to discipline the rebellious party colleague with sanctions. On December 9, 2012, Kushawara finally announced his exit from the JD (U) and his intention to form a new party. On March 3, 2013 Kushwaha founded the new party under the name of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party .

A ceiling fan, the election symbol of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party on ballot papers.

Programmatically, the party did not offer much that was new. Most of her electorate came from the rural Koeri caste , one of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), which makes up around 8% of the population in Bihar. It was one of the many parties in the northern Indian states that rely primarily on certain castes and represent their interests.

In February 2014, shortly before India's parliamentary election , the RLSP joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) . In the election, RLSP won 1,078,473, corresponding to 3.05% of the votes cast in Bihar (corresponding to 0.2% based on the whole of India). This was enough to win three constituencies ( 5-Sitamarhi , 35-Karakat , 36-Jahanabad ), which was a great success for the new party. On May 26, 2014, the Indian Electoral Commission officially recognized the party as a federal party in Bihar State and chose a ceiling fan as an election symbol (for illiterate voters). Subsequently, RLSP was personally involved in the coalition government Modi . From May 27, 2014 to November 9, 2014, RLSP party leader Upendra Kushwaha was State Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj , Drinking Water and Sanitation, and then State Secretary for Human Resource Development.

In the 2015 election to the Parliament of Bihar, RLSP received 976,940 votes (2.6%) and won two of 243 constituencies and remained in the opposition along with the BJP.

On December 10, 2018, RLSP party leader Upendra Kushwaha announced his resignation as State Secretary (Minister of State) in the Modi government and at the same time his party's withdrawal from the NDA. This was preceded by disputes over the constituency agreements in the upcoming parliamentary election in 2019 . Kushawaha expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the RLSP should only be granted two seats, while BJP and JD (U) wanted to split the remaining 38 constituencies of Bihar equally among themselves. On December 20, 2018, Kushwaha announced his party's accession to the Congress-party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Upendra Kushwaha suspended from JD (U) for six years. oneindia.com, August 21, 2007, accessed November 25, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Sixteenth Lok Sabha: Members Bioprofiles: Kushwaha, Shri Upendra. Lok Sabha, accessed November 25, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Faizan Ahmad: Upendra Kushwaha quits JD (U), Rajya Sabha; to launch new party. The Times of India, December 9, 2012, accessed November 25, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Dheeraj Kumar: Revolt brews against Kushwaha in Rashtriya Lok Samata Party. April 13, 2013, accessed November 25, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Dhirendra K. Jha: BJP feels the pain as a small partner flexes muscle in Bihar. scroll.in, April 5, 2015, accessed on November 25, 2016 (English).
  6. ↑ Other such parties are: Samajwadi Party - Dalits , Bahujan Samaj Party - OBC, Apna Dal - Kurnis , Rashtriya Lok Dal - Yadavs , Rashtriya Lok Dal - Jats etc.
  7. ↑ a b Election Results - Full Statistical Reports. Indian Election Commission, accessed on November 25, 2016 (English, election results of all Indian elections to the Lok Sabha and the parliaments of the states since independence).
  8. ↑ Recognition of Rashtriya Lok Samta Party as State Party in Bihar. (PDF) Indian Electoral Commission, May 26, 2014, accessed on November 25, 2016 (English).
  9. ↑ RLSP Chief Upendra Kushwaha quits NDA, resigns as union minister. Business Standard, December 10, 2018, accessed February 19, 2019 .
  10. ^ RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha joins opposition's grand alliance. The Times of India, December 20, 2018, accessed February 19, 2019 .