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News Topical, Digital Desk : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), once one of the most powerful political parties in the country, is now going through its darkest phase. The situation is such that in 2026, the BSP will be completely excluded from the country's Parliament for the first time. The BSP does not have a single member in the Lok Sabha, and now the term of its sole Rajya Sabha MP, Ramji Gautam, is also ending.
Ten MPs from Uttar Pradesh will retire from the Rajya Sabha in November 2026. Eight of these are from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and one each from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP. These include BJP MPs Brijlal, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma, Neeraj Shekhar, Chandraprabha, Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, and BL Verma. The terms of the Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav and the BSP's Ramji Gautam are also ending.
It should be noted that the BSP was founded by Kanshi Ram on April 16, 1984. Within a few years of its establishment, the BSP's voice resonated from Parliament to the state legislatures. But now, for the first time, the BSP's presence in the nation's temple of democracy, Parliament, will be reduced to zero.
BSP's voice will end in Parliament
The BSP's sole remaining MP in the Rajya Sabha is Ramji Gautam, who ran in the 2019 elections with the support of the BJP. After six years, his term as MP will end in November next year. After this, the BSP's position in the Rajya Sabha will be reduced to zero, just like in the Lok Sabha.
This will be the first time in 36 years that the BSP will not have a single member representing both houses of Parliament. Given the dynamics of the Rajya Sabha elections, it is unlikely that the BSP will win even a single seat in next year's elections. The BSP has only one MLA, but according to the metrics, the support of 37 MLAs is required for a single Rajya Sabha seat.
BSP is going through its worst phase
The Bahujan Samaj Party was formed in 1984, after which the BSP rapidly grew to become the largest Dalit political party. The BSP not only strengthened its position as a regional party but also gained considerable influence in national politics. In 2009, the BSP won 21 Lok Sabha seats with a vote share of 6.17%, becoming the third largest party nationally.
In 2014, amid the Narendra Modi wave, the BSP failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat, but secured 4.19% of the vote. In 2019, the BSP and SP formed an alliance, and the BSP won ten seats. However, the BSP broke the alliance a few days later.
By 2024, the BSP's vote share had steadily declined, falling to 2.07% and failing to win a single seat. The BSP's position in the UP Assembly is also dire. Only one MLA won the 2022 election. Last year, the BSP also faced a vacuum in the Legislative Council, as the term of its sole MLC, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, ended.
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