Social Democratic Party of India

Social Democratic Party of India
Leader A. Saeed
Founded June 21, 2009
Headquarters New Delhi, India
ECI Status Unrecognised registered party[1]
Website
Official Website
Politics of India
Political parties
Elections

The Social Democratic Party of India is an Indian political party, founded on June 21, 2009. It is the political wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI).[2][3] A. Saeed is the party's National President.[4][5]

Manifesto

Social Democratic Party of India has put forth the slogan of “Freedom from Hunger, Freedom from Fear” in its manifesto in first National Delegates Meet on October 18, 2009. The manifesto calls for the empowerment of all marginalized sections of the society by mobilizing themselves into a political force, instead of remaining as mere vote banks of different political parties in elections. It has demanded balanced representation of all social groups in legislatures and all administrative bodies nominated by government, in proportion to their population. Abubacker, in his presidential address said SDPI wants to unite Muslims to make them a force to reckon with so that its importance is recognized and is granted its constitutional rights.[6]

Charges and Accusations

Several SDPI offices have been raided by Kerala Police,[7][8] Suspected weapons training camps and arms stockpiling were seized in Narath, Kannur district from the offices and other centers of PFI and SDPI.[9][10] Though the party denied any involvement, the charge-sheet filed by National Investigation Agency (NIA) blamed Popular Front of India (PFI) and their political outfit Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in conducting arms training camps across the state under the pretense of health awareness camps and yoga classes.[11][12] According to the FIR, the 24 accused in the case were reportedly the members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).Cases were registered under sections 143, 147, 153(B), R/W 149 of IPC, section 5(1)(a) r/w 25(1)(a) of Arms Act, section 4 of Explosives Act and section 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of the Indian Penal Code.[13][14][15]

4 SDPI activists were arrested for murder of two Communist Party of India (Marxist)(CPI-M) members at Mangalam, Tirur, on 29 January 2014.[16][17] SDPI accepted the responsibility after a video of this violent attack was aired by major television channels. However the party justified the attacks reasoning that it needs to safeguard its members. As per the party's District President,the attack was just an emotional reaction from its members to an attack the CPM executed against one of its members on the same morning.[18]

Regional presence

SDPI has representations in 16 states of India including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andrapradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Hariyana and Manipur. It has made state level and district level local committees in most of the states.[19] SDPI has shown its presence in recent elections 68 SDPI Candidate Won BBMP election held in Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan.[20][21] The party won 14 seats in four municipalities in the 2010 local body election in Kerala.[22] It won 62 seats in the Local body election 2011 in Tamil Nadu.[23] Karnataka saw more than one lakh votes polled in favor of the party in the 24 Assembly segment but the party’s individual candidates did not win any seat. He pointed out forming local alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party to underline his party’s secular credentials. However, by nominating only two non-Muslim candidates in the 24 constituencies (both in reserved constituencies), the SDPI reaffirmed its image as a party in pursuit of the Muslim vote. The SDPI State president also claimed that as the national level, the party shares a good rapport with the Janata Dal (United) as well as the Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party.[24]

Presence in Indian general election, 2014

The SDPI is to field 30 candidates in 6 states. The party's 2014 Election Manifesto, contained several issues concerning domestic and foreign policies. The basic needs of the people, democratic rights, eradication of corruption, SCs/STs, Minorities etc. A new national water policy, implementation of Ranganath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee reports, 100% literacy by 2020, eradication of corruption. All international treaties related to India is to be ratified by the Parliament & the Nehruvian period status should be reinstated as the leader of the Non-alignment movement. The manifesto also included the need for 10% reservation to Muslims with the inclusion of Muslim and Christian dalits in the SC category with the sub-plan for minorities and reservation for women of SC, ST, OBC and minorities in the Lok Sabha. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and AFSPA would be repealed, and the enactment of Communal Violence (Prevention) Bill would be at the top priority of the party.[4] The bill was heavily criticized by human rights groups and lawyers.[25]

Despite, being a young party, it is poised to influence the Muslim votes for years to come. The criticism and demands raised by the party in the Electioneering campaign seem sensible.[26] In the state of Kerala, the party, with the candidates in Ponnani and Malappuram, offered to lead an alternative to Left-Right politics that the state has seen for decades.[26] In the state of Karnataka, the Social Democratic Party of India is being supported by the Janata Dal (Secular) in Dakshin Kannada. The JD-S has extended its support "on the principles and ideologies laid by the party at the time of its (SDPI's) birth".[27] The party had put a decent show in the Karnataka Local Body elections in 2013 by winning 17 seats.[28] Among the various parties who contested for the Indian general election, 2014 in Kerala, SDPI had the highest number of candidates with criminal charges. Fourteen out of the party’s 20 candidates faced criminal charges.[29]

Controversy

In 2014 a private school in south Kerala removed Vande Mataram from their Independence Day programme after workers of the SDPI threatened to disrupt the programme, saying that some of the words in the song were against the religious beliefs of a section of the community. The school also dropped the namaste gesture from a dance number performed during Independence Day celebrations, inviting sharp criticism from various quarters. The national song was dropped after several rounds of rehearsals. When the issue snowballed into a raging controversy, school management denied any external pressure. SDPI justified the changes in the programme saying that they approached the school management after a number of parents complained that some words in Vande Matraam and the gesture namaste were against their religious beliefs. [30]

References

  1. ↑ http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/ElectoralLaws/OrdersNotifications/Symbols_Notification17.09.2010.pdf
  2. ↑ "On the back of a good showing, SDPI sets its sights higher". The Hindu. May 12, 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "New Party Formed". Times of India. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2010-08-11. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 7 March 2014 - 2:21pm (2014-03-07). "SDPI’s manifesto for 2014 Lok Sabha elections released". TwoCircles.net. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  5. ↑ "NATIONAL OFFICE BEARERS". Official website. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Bari, Parvez (2009-08-19). "SDPI gives clarion call to fight for freedom from hunger & fear". Ummid site. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  7. ↑ "Raid at PFI, SDPI offices". The Hindu. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Raid on SDPI offices". The Hindu. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Haul hints at arms stockpiling". http://www.hindu.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "More weapons seized from Narath". http://www.hindu.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Narath arms case: NIA chargesheet hints at PFI's links with terrorist outfits". indiatoday.intoday.in. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "ISLAMISTS RAN JEHADI CAMPS IN KANNUR: COPS". http://www.dailypioneer.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "NIA registers FIR in Narath arms case". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Raid on PFI camp: Karnataka police team in Kerala". http://www.coastaldigest.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "22 SDPI members chargesheeted in Narath case". deccanchronicle.com/. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "4 SDPI Workers Held". NewIndianExpress. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "4 held for attack on CPI(M) men at Tirur". TheHindu. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "SDPI Justifies Attack on CPM Members". NewIndianExpress. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Local Committee formed". Visionmp.com. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  20. ↑ "SDPI Candidate Won BBMP election". Coastaldigest.com. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  21. ↑ "sdpi candidate wins sarpanch election in rajasthan". Coastaldigest.com. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  22. ↑ "October 11, 2009". Pd.cpim.org. 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  23. ↑ It secured more than 24000 votes in JANGIPUR parliamentary election in bengal.It has opened account in Goa by winning 1 seat. http://sdpi.in/portal/story/good-show-sdpi-tamilnadu-local-body-elections
  24. ↑ Sudipto Mondal (2013-05-12). "On the back of a good showing, SDPI sets its sights higher". The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  25. ↑ "State pogroms glossed over". The Times of India. Dec 31, 2005. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Abdul Latheef Naha (2014-03-25). "Muslim votes not a monolithic bloc". The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  27. ↑ "Mangalore: JD(S) backing SDPI, fighting elections on principles - M B Sadashiva". Daijiworld.com. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  28. ↑ April 17, 2014 12:20 pm. "SDPI wins 17 seats in Karnataka Local Body Elections". Muslim Mirror. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  29. ↑ April 17, 2014 12:20 pm. "74 with criminal cases, 46 crorepatis in the fray in Kerala". The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  30. ↑ "Kerala school says no to Vande Mataram in dance programme". Hindustan Times. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.