Kanshi Ram (15 March 1934 – 9 October 2006), also known as BahujanNayak or Saheb, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the untouchable groups at the bottom of the caste system in India. Towards this end, Kanshi Ram founded Dalit ShoshitSamajSangharshSamiti (DS-4), the All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees’ Federation (BAMCEF) in 1971 and the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) in 1984. He ceded leadership of the BSP to his protégé Mayawati who has served four terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Kanshi Ram was born on 15 March 1934 in Khawaspur village, Ropar district, to a Ramdasia Chamar Sikh family. The Ramdasias are a Dalit sect but in Punjab at that time there was relatively little stigma attached to being an untouchable.

Kanshi Ram joined the offices of the Explosive Research and Development Laboratory in Pune. In 1964, during his time there, he joined the agitation started by SCEWASTAMB (All India Federation of Scheduled Caste/Tribes Backward Class & Minorities Employees Welfare Associations) of Government of India to prevent the abolition of a holiday commemorating B. R. Ambedkar’s birthday.

In 1978, Saheb formed BAMCEF, a non-political, non-religious and non-agitational organisation with wings like BVF, Brotherhood Center and Buddhist Research Center.

Later, in 1981, Saheb formed another social organisation known as Dalit ShoshitSamajSangharshSamiti (DS4). He started his attempt of consolidating the Dalit vote and in 1984 he founded the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP).

In 1982 he wrote his book The Chamcha Age (an Era of the Stooges) and in it he used of the term chamcha (stooge) for Dalit leaders who for their selfish motives work for parties like the Indian National Congress (INC) such as Jagjivan Ram or Ram Vilas Paswan and for BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) keeping in ethical context with Ambedkar’s book What Gandhi and the Congress Have Done to the Untouchables to the politics of Dalit liberation.

However, it was in 1986 when he declared his transition from a social worker to a politician by stating that he was not going to work for/with any other organization other than the BSP.

After forming BSP Ram said the party would fight first election to lose, next to get noticed and the third election to win. In 1988 he contested Allahabad seat up against a future Prime Minister V. P. Singh and performed impressively but lost polling close to 70,000 votes.He unsuccessfully contested from East Delhi (LokSabha constituency) in 1989 and came at fourth position. Then he represented the 11th LokSabha from Hoshiarpur,Kanshiram was also elected as member of LokSabha from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. In 2001 he publicly announced Mayawati as his successor.

In 2002, Ram announced his intention to convert to Buddhism on 14 October 2006, the 50th anniversary of Ambedkar’s conversion. He intended for 20,000,000 of his supporters to convert at the same time. Part of the significance of this plan was that Ram’s followers include not only untouchables, but persons from a variety of castes, who could significantly broaden Buddhism’s support. However, he died 9 October 2006.

According to his wishes, his funeral rites were performed as per Buddhist tradition, with Mayawati lighting the pyre. His ashes were placed in an urn and kept at PrernaSthal, where many people paid their respects.

In his condolence message, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Ram as “one of the greatest social reformers of our time, his political ideas and movements had a significant impact on our political evolution … He had a larger understanding of social change and was able to unite various underprivileged sections of our society and provide a political platform where their voices would be heard.” Under Ram’s leadership, the BSP won 14 parliamentary seats in the 1999 federal elections