BSP suspends former minister Ramveer Upadhyay for anti-party activities

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday suspended senior leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Ramveer Upadhyay for alleged anti-party activities. BSP national general secretary Mewa Lal Gautam said Upadhyay had also been removed from all his posts in the party organisation.

The charges

According to Gautam, Upadhyay worked against the BSP’s candidates in the Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats and campaigned for BJP candidates there. He also stayed away from rallies held by the BSP-SP alliance in western Uttar Pradesh. During the campaign, a video showing him canvassing for Satish Gautam, the BJP candidate from Aligarh, spread widely on social media.

A BSP leader said zonal coordinators had told party chief Mayawati in a report that Upadhyay’s actions had put the party in a difficult position in the three seats, and she ordered his suspension on the basis of that report.

Who is Ramveer Upadhyay

Upadhyay was seen as the BSP’s Brahmin face and played a major role in drawing upper-caste Brahmin support to the party. He headed the bhaichara (brotherhood) committee set up by Mayawati to widen the party’s base among Brahmins, and had influence over upper-caste voters in the Braj region around Agra, Mathura and Aligarh. He was a cabinet minister in the BSP government of 2007-12 and served as the party’s chief whip in the Assembly. In the 2017 Assembly election he won the Sadabad seat in Hathras despite the BJP wave in the state.

Family links

His wife, Seema Upadhyay, is a former BSP Lok Sabha MP. The party had announced her as its candidate from Fatehpur Sikri but later asked her to contest from Aligarh, which she declined, publicly criticising the leadership. His brother Mukul Upadhyay, a former BSP member of the Legislative Council, rebelled and joined the BJP in February.

Upadhyay declined to comment when contacted, saying he would give his views at a press conference in Hathras on Wednesday.

See also: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha members

Originally published on 22 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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