[3][4] The Azad Samaj Party's origins lie in the Bhim Army founded by Chandra Shekhar Aazad in 2015 to protect constitutional rights and oppose caste oppression.

[9] In June 2017, the group's leader Chandrashekhar, a lawyer, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force.

[10] Chandrashekhar was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in November 2017, but the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath continued to detain him under the National Security Act until it dropped the NSA order in September 2018 and acquitted Chandrashekhar from jail.

[13] Dozens of people, including Chandrashekhar and Vinay Ratan, were arrested by police, prompting the Bhim Army to demand their release.

Chandrashekhar stated that "We tried to join hands and work unitedly with the Bahujan Samaj Party but its leader was unwilling to do so."

Chandrashekhar has described the BJP as his chief political adversary, but has also competed with Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party.