The Social Democratic Party of India, popularly known as SDPI, is an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
which was founded on 21 June 2009
[
] in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
. The party is considered the political wing of the banned Islamic organization
Popular Front of India
Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamic political organisation in India, that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. Formed to counter Hindutva groups, it was banned by the Indian Ministry of Home Affair ...
(PFI). It was registered with the
Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...
on 13 April 2010. M. K. Faizy is the party's national president.
[
][
]
Activities
The 2016
Jisha murder case spawned agitation throughout
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
for speedier justice. The SDPI stopped Kerala Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy
Oommen Chandy, , (born 31 October 1943) is an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative ...
, who had come to Perumbavur to meet with relatives of the slain woman. After his visit, Chandy said that the investigations were being conducted efficiently.
Education for the poor
In line with the
Right to Education Act
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for chil ...
, the SDPI sought to reserve 25 percent of private-school seats in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
's
Tirunelveli district for the 2015 academic year. Its petition to the district collector also asked for transparency in
school admissions and fees.
Protests against government and police
The SDPI held protests across India against the
Citizenship Amendment Act
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Indian nationality law, Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing a pathway to Indian citizenship for Religious persecution, persecuted rel ...
(CAA), and burned copies of the bill. In
Coimbatore
Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...
, Tamil Nadu, members of SDPI hoisted national flags at their homes and shops. Kerala CM
Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving sec ...
accused the party of using the
CAA protests
The Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill) protests, also known as the CAA Protest, CAB Protest or CAA and NRC protests, occurred after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted by the Government of India on 12 December 2019. The move sparked ...
to create division.
The SDPI supported protesting farmers in Delhi, and conducted statewide protests in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. On 26 January 26 2021 in
Coimbatore
Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...
, Tamil Nadu, party members carried a coffin made from banana leaves, bamboo trees, and vegetables to demonstrate that the farm laws do not safeguard the farmers' interests. In Karnataka, SDPI members and others rallied in
Belthangady
Belthangady is a town panchayat and the headquarters of Belthangady taluk of the Dakshina Kannada (South Canara) district of Karnataka state in India.
Demographics
In 2001 in the town of Belthangady, 11% of the population was under 6 years o ...
to support the farmers' protest.
In April 2015, the party protested a fatal police encounter with 20 workers from
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
who were working in the state of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. The SDPI accused AP police of cloaking their attack as
self-defence
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...
and demanded that the government lodge a criminal case against the police officers responsible for the killings.
Road demand
In February 2016, around 30 SDPI members attempted to hold a "sleeping protest" in front of the Divisional Office of the Department of Highways, demanding the repair of the
Palayamkottai
Palayamkottai (also Palayankottai) is a neighbourhood in Tirunelveli City, incorporated within the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation. It is situated on the east bank of the Thamirabarani river, with the exception of its downtown area, whi ...
–
Papanasam
Papanasam is a panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Kumbakonam. The name literally translates to "Destruction of Sins" in the Tamil language. It is the suburban region ...
road in Tamil Nadu. Other political parties and the public had repeatedly appealed to the Department of Highways to have the stretch of road re-laid. Officials had ignored the demands, wanting to re-lay only the stretches used by ministers and other VIPs during Tamil Nadu Governor
Konijeti Rosaiah
Konijeti Rosaiah (4 July 1933 – 4 December 2021) was an Indian politician who served as the List of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 15th chief minister of United Andhra Pradesh from 2009 to 2010. He also served as the Governor of Karnataka ...
's visit to
Manonmaniam Sundaranar University
Manonmaniam Sundaranar University is a university in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was hived off the Madurai Kamaraj University on 7 September 1990.
The motto of the university is "In Pursuit of Excellence". It is named after the Tamil sc ...
.
Respect for Islam
In December 2016, the SDPI organized a nationwide campaign demanding the reconstruction of
Babri Masjid
Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...
on its original site; the mosque had been demolished in December 1992. During the campaign, the
Dakshina Kannada
Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...
SDPI district president was arrested for inciting communal hatred with a skit about the demolition. Protests were held in
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, and
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
.
In March 2016, ''
Mathrubhumi
''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian independence movement, Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj, British. The word "M ...
'' reprinted an offensive comment about
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
which had been initially posted on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. The newspaper was forced to apologise after the party and other organizations protested outside ''Mathrubhumi'' offices, saying that the post "hurt the sentiments of the community".
COVID-19 pandemic
On 28 April 2020, the Tamil Nadu SDPI filed
public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...
(PIL) in the Madras High Court requesting the transport home of
Tabligh Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat (, also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party")
is a transnational Deobandi Islamic missionary movement
that focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant
and encouraging fellow members ...
attendees from the state who were stranded in Delhi and other states. On 13 May 2020, the court directed the Tamil Nadu government to arrange transport and a quarantine facility for attendees stranded in Delhi.
The party also filed PIL in Madras High Court on 16 April 2020 alleging media bias in coronavirus news, seeking adherence with the Supreme Court's order to publish official information on the pandemic.
Charges and accusations
Extremism
Two orthodox
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
groups accused the SDPI of extremism after the murder of a university student.
Murders of CPI-M, Youth League and Congress workers
Nine
PFI and SDPI activists were found guilty of killing a
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...
(CPI-M) worker in 2008. SDPI activists were found guilty of murdering a
Muslim Youth League
Muslim Youth League, abbreviated as the Youth League, is the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League
The Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the I. U. M. L. or the League) is an Indian political party primarily based in the Indi ...
worker in
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
. SDPI members were arrested for the murder of a
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
worker in
Chavakkad
Chavakkad, formerly Chowghat, is a municipality in Thrissur district of Kerala state in India. It is a suburban town of Thrissur city. Chavakkad is noted for its beach and fishing. It lies on National Highway 66 is located about north of the ...
. Several SDPI offices have been raided by the
Kerala Police
The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperamen ...
. Suspected weapons-training camps and arms stockpiles were seized in
Narath
Narath is a census town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala.
Demographics
As of 2011 Census, Narath had a population of 13,092, which constitutes 5,979 (45.7%) males and 7,113 (54.3%) females. Narath Census Town spreads over an ...
,
Kannur district from the offices and other centres of the PFI and SDPI. Although the party denied any involvement, the charge sheet filed by the
National Investigation Agency
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the primary counter-terrorist task force of India. The agency is empowered to deal with the investigation of terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states under written ...
(NIA) blamed the PFI and the SDPI for conducting arms-training camps across Kerala as health-awareness camps and yoga classes. According to the
FIR
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
, the 24 people accused in the case were members of the PFI and the SDPI. Cases were registered under sections 143, 147, 153(B), R/W 149 of the
IPC, section 5(1)(a) r/w 25(1)(a) of Arms Act, section 4 of the Explosives Act and section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Four SDPI activists were arrested for an attack on two CPI(M) members in Mangalam,
Tirur
Tirur is a Municipality in Malappuram district in the Indian state of Kerala spread over an area of . It is one of the business centers of Malappuram district and is situated west of Malappuram and south of Kozhikode, on the Shoranur–Mangalor ...
on 29 January 2014. The SDPI accepted responsibility after a video of the violent attack was aired by major television channels. The party justified the attacks, however, saying that it needed to safeguard its members. According to the SDPI district president, the attack was an emotional reaction by its members to a CPM attack on one of its members that morning.
Murder of RSS members
A 23-year-old
RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
worker was hacked to death in February 2021, allegedly by SDPI workers. The
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
observed a
hartal
Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...
to protest the killing. In December of that year, SDPI state secretary K. S. Shan was hacked to death by a group affiliated with RSS. According to the police, Shan's death was in retaliation to the February murder of the RSS' Nandu by SDPI workers. BJP
OBC leader Ranjith Sneenivasan was then murdered in his home; police speculated that Sneenivasan's murder was connected to the previous two. SDPI leaders were arrested during the following days.
Anti-CAA violence
A police investigation found that Kerala Muslims were involved in
Mangaluru
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
anti-
CAA
CAA may refer to:
Law
* Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India
** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
* Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...
violence. Police alleged that provocative messages were shared by groups related to the
PFI and the SDPI. Two people were arrested in connection with the violence and notices were issued to 30 others, including members of the PFI and SDPI.
Controversy
2014 Independence Day
A private school in
Karicode
Karicode or Karikodu is a neighbourhood of Kollam city in India. It is about 5 km away from Kollam city centre. Karicode is the 23rd ward in Kollam Municipal Corporation council. The place is very famous because of the educational instituti ...
, Kerala, removed "
Vande Mataram
''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the ...
" from their 2014
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
programme after SDPI workers threatened to disrupt the programme; some of the song's words, they said, opposed Muslim religious beliefs. Fearing trouble, school authorities dropped the national song and a ''
namaste
''Namaste'' (, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called ''namaskar'' and ''namaskaram'', is a customary Hindu non-contact manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is found on the In ...
'' gesture from a dance number. The issue sparked protests from the youth organisations of several parties. The SDPI justified the changes to the programme, saying that the party approached the school after several parents complained that some words in "Vande Mataram" and the ''namaste'' gesture opposed their religious beliefs.
2020 Bangalore riots
On the night of 11 August 2020, violent clashes took place in the city of
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. Provoked by an
inflammatory Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
post about Muhammad which was shared by the nephew of
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
state legislator
Akhanda Srinivas Murthy
R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy is an Indian politician and a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He is the representative of the Pulakeshinagar constituency as a member of the Indian National Congress. He was previously a representative of ...
, a crowd of
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
arrived at his house for a protest which turned violent. Clashes between police and the crowd spread to the KG Halli and
DJ Halli police stations. A
curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
was imposed, and three people were killed after
police opened fire on the crowd. Dozens of police officers and several journalists were injured by armed assailants, and Murthy's property was
torched during the violence. The following day, over 100 people were
arrest
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...
ed. Some protesters were reportedly led by SDPI members, and several party leaders were arrested.
Sedition charges
On 31 December 2020, SDPI workers reportedly caught shouted "
Pakistan Zindabad
Pakistan Zindabad ( ur, , ) is a patriotic slogan used by Pakistanis in displays of Pakistani nationalism. The phrase became popular among the Muslims of British India after the 1933 publication of the "Pakistan Declaration" by Choudhry Rahmat ...
" slogans in Karnataka;
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
charges were filed against them. The SDPI denied the allegations.
Hijab dispute
Hijabs
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While s ...
were brought to the attention of Karnataka media by Ansar Ahmed, district president of
Karnataka Rakshana Vedike
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, popularly known as, KaRaVe and abbreviated as the KRV (English: Our Karnataka Protection Forum) is an organization located in the state of Karnataka, India. The organization has more than 6 million (as of 2012 ...
.
The
Campus Front of India
The Campus Front of India (CFI) is the student/campus wing of the banned Islamist organization, the Popular Front of India. CFI was launched at New Delhi on November seventh at the National Students Convention 2009. The founder and president ...
(CFI), the student wing of the PFI, threatened a protest; this prompted the junior college to request a police presence.
The SDPI also reportedly threatened to protest. College authorities met with the parents, and remained firm in their resolution not to allow religious attire.
Regional presence
The SDPI Is represented in 16 Indian states:
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
,
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
,
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry tal ...
,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
,
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
and
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
. The party has state- and district-level committees in most of the states, and has been a presence in recent elections. The party won 14 seats in four municipalities in a 2010 local election in Kerala. It received over 24,000 votes in the Jangipur parliamentary election in Bengal, and won a seat in Goa.
The SDPI did not win a seat in Karnataka, but the state party president noted its alliances with the
Bahujan Samaj Party
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), alon ...
,
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United) ("People’s Party (United)”) abbreviated as JD(U) is an Indian political party with political presence mainly in eastern and north-eastern India. JD(U) is recognised as a state party in the states of Bihar , Arunachal Pra ...
and the
Lok Janshakti Party
The Lok Janshakti Party ( LJP, "People’s Manpower Party") was a state political party mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The party was formed in 2000 when Ram Vilas Paswan split from Janata Dal. The party had a considerable followin ...
.
[
]
Electoral presence
General elections
2014
The SDPI fielded 29 candidates in six states. The party's 2014 Election Manifesto raised several issues about domestic and foreign policies, including popular needs, democratic rights, eradication of corruption, SCs/STs, minorities, a new national water policy, implementation of Ranganath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee reports, and full literacy by 2020.[
In ]Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, the party ran candidates in Ponnani and Malappuram. In Karnataka, the SDPIsupported by Janata Dal (Secular)contested in Dakshin Kannada. The JD-S extended its support "on the principles and ideologies laid by the party at the time of its (SDPI's) birth". Of the parties who contested the 2014 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...
in Kerala, the SDPI had the highest number of candidates (14 out of 20) with criminal charges. In the 16th Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
election, the party received 0.07 percent of the vote and did not win any seats.
2019
The party contested for 15 seats in six states (Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, and Delhi) in the 2019 Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
elections. In Andhra Pradesh, the SDPI contested for one Lok Sabha seat and fielded two candidates in the Legislative Assembly elections. In Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada
Dakshina Kannada district is a district of Karnataka state in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangalore. It is part of the larger Tulu Nadu region. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east ...
constituency, the SDPI received 46,839 votes (3.48 per cent of the vote). In Tamil Nadu, the SDPI allied with T. T. V. Dhinakaran
Thiruthurapoondi Thiruvenkatam Vivekananda Dhinakaran (born 13 December 1963) is an Indian politician and founding General Secretary of Amma Makkal Munneetra Kazagam. In the past he was the Treasurer of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ...
's AMMK party in the Central Chennai constituency. SDPI national vice president KKSM Dehlan Baqavi received 23,741 votes (3.02 per cent).
State Legislative Assembly elections
Karnataka (2013)
In the May 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
The 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 5 May 2013 to elect members from 223 constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. Five major political parties contested the election: Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Ja ...
, the SDPI contested for 24 seats; seven were in Dakshina Kannada district, and five were in Bangalore. Party state president Abdul Majeed stood against three-time legislator and former minister Tanveer Sait
Tanveer Aziz Sait is an Indian politician who was the Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education of Karnataka from 2016 to 2018. He is Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Narasimharaja constituency since May 2002. Sait ...
in Narasimharaja
Narasimharaja is a locality in Mysore. It hosts one of the constituencies of Karnataka State Legislative Assembly.
Elections were first held here for this seat in 1967.
Tanveer Sait is from the Indian National Congress and represents Narasimhara ...
, a constituency dominated by Muslims. Majeed lost the election by 8,370 votes, finishing second.
Tamil Nadu (2016)
The SDPI contested independently for 30 seats in the May 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The Fifteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 16 May 2016 for the 232 seats (except Thanjavur and Aravakurichi for which held on 26 October 2016) of the Legislative Assembly in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. AIADMK under J. Jayal ...
with a gas-cylinder party symbol. The party received 65,978 votes (0.15 per cent), and did not win any seats.
Kerala (2016)
The 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election
The 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held on 16 May 2016 to elect 140 MLAs to the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout was 77.53%, up from 75.12% in the previous election. The result was declared on 19 May 2016. The Left ...
was held on 16 May to elect representatives of 140 constituencies. The SDPI fielded candidates independently in 89 constituencies; it received 0.61 per cent of the vote, and did not win any seats.
Karnataka (2018)
The SDPI declared Abdul Majeed its candidate from the Narasimharaja constituency in the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
The 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election was held on 12 May 2018 in 222 constituencies to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The election was postponed in Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, following the death of the MLA B. N. Vijaya ...
, but Majeed failed to win.
Local body elections
The SDPI contested the 2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body elections
2022 Tamil Nadu urban local body elections, to the Local civic bodies in Tamil Nadu were held in urban areas in the month of February 2022. The Greater Chennai Corporation, alongside 20 other municipal corporations of Tamil Nadu, went to poll ...
, and won one ward in the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation election
The most recent elections for the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation were held in February 2022. The candidates campaigned for 100 wards in the election. Election results were declared in February 2022.
Election results
In the 2022 Tamil Nad ...
.
See also
*Popular Front of India
Popular Front of India (PFI) is an Islamic political organisation in India, that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. Formed to counter Hindutva groups, it was banned by the Indian Ministry of Home Affair ...
References
Further reading
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{{Authority control
2009 establishments in Delhi
Islamic political parties in India
Political parties established in 2009
Registered unrecognised political parties in India
Social democratic parties in India