New Delhi: “I am from the Pasi Samaj. That’s why I am being insulted. But I have not insulted anyone. I have only served people with honesty,” said Awadhesh Prasad on February 3, evoking his Dalit caste identity. The Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Faizabad was addressing a rally in Ayodhya on the final day of campaigning for the high-stakes Milkipur bypoll election.
“They have called me a dog, referred to me as the tail of a dog. My heart is aching. The ministers of this [Uttar Pradesh] government have also said that since people here elected a Dalit as their MP, the dignity of Ayodhya has fallen,” said Prasad.
The 79-year-old veteran leader, who has won nine Assembly elections since 1977, was reflecting on the personal ‘hurt’ he was feeling due to the insults by the Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is conventional for politicians to make emotional appeals during elections, but Prasad’s assertion of his Dalit identity and evocation of caste-linked insults truly launched the question of caste to the centre stage of the February 5 election. This appears detrimental to the saffron party, which has tried to communalise the election on religious grounds.
Milkipur is a reserved constituency. The BJP and the SP both have fielded candidates from the same Dalit sub-caste, Pasi. The Pasis are a dominant political force in Awadh, where Ayodhya is.
Awadhesh Prasad’s elder son Ajit Prasad is the SP candidate, while Chandrabhanu Paswan, a former zilla panchayat member from Rudauli in Ayodhya with business links to Gujarat, is the BJP’s nominee. While the saffron party has accused the SP of dynasty politics, the SP hopes to gain from the perception that Paswan is not from Milkipur and thus an ‘outsider’.
However, these micro issues have been overshadowed by Awadhesh Prasad’s emotional reaction to the murder of a young Dalit woman whose body was found in a field in Ayodhya on February 1. Addressing journalists on February 2, Awadhesh Prasad broke down as he spoke about the violence suffered by the victim. He called out to “Maryada Purshottam Ram” and “Sita Maiya” and even offered to resign as the MP, if he was unable to get the woman justice from parliament.
Under immense pressure over the incident, the Ayodhya police on February 3 arrested three men for the crime. They were identified as Digvijay Singh, Vijay Sahu and Hariram Kori. The police action did not bring an end to the politics over it.
Also read: Ahead of Milkipur Bypoll, Dalit Woman’s Murder Pushes Adityanath on the Backfoot in Ayodhya
After Adityanath dismissed Prasad’s emotional breakdown as “nautanki” (theatrics), the senior SP leader launched a massive counter-attack to have the final say before Milkipur braces itself to vote.
Campaigning in Milkipur, Awadhesh Prasad on February 3, evoked his caste background, with a bid to stir up caste sentiments. He openly referred to the case identity of the victim to underscore her Dalit background and forge a unity among the Dalit sub-castes.
“[We] have been insulted. This is not about one daughter from the Kori community. This is the question of the crores of daughters in the country,” said Awadhesh Prasad. Responding to Adityanath, Awadhesh Prasad said, “Yogi baba said that your MP indulges in theatrics. I was crying at the insult of the daughter.”
In the last three decades, the BJP has won Milkipur only once, in 2017, when Baba Gorakhnath defeated Awadhesh Prasad. The former MP of Faizabad, the late Mitrasen Yadav won Milkipur Assembly seat thrice in a row in 1977, 1980 and 1985 as a candidate of the Communist Party of India, before winning again in 1993 and 1996, the last time as a candidate of the newly-formed SP.
Mitrasen Yadav’s son Anand Sen won the seat in 2002 (as an SP candidate) and in 2007 on a ticket of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). As part of the SP’s attempts to cement the support of the Yadav community, found here in substantial numbers, Awadhesh Prasad and his son Ajit Prasad, paid tributes to the late “Babu Mitrasen Yadav,” remembered as a stalwart backward caste leader.
Those close to Awadhesh Prasad claim that the Yadavs, Pasis and Muslims combined make up around 1.30-1.40 lakh of the voters in the constituency. Muslims and Yadavs are considered the core vote base of the SP.
Unlike the recent bypoll elections, Adityanath has kept out the divisive slogan of ‘Batenge toh Katenge (if we are divided)’, we will be butchered)’ from Milkipur election. However, his campaign has focused on not only projecting the SP as anti-Hindu but also anti-Dalit.
Addressing a rally in Milkipur last week, Adityanath said that “jativad (casteism)” and “parivarvad (dynasticism)” were the biggest challenge in the “path of unity”.
“This politics of parivarvad and jativad is an obstacle in your development and affront to your faith. They never did anything for the uplift of any person from the Dalit, deprived or backward caste, only worked for family,” said Adityanath.
Ironically, while Adityanath has accused the SP of casteism, in his campaign he freely referred to Dalit caste and religious icons and publicised the work by his government to promote their legacy. Adityanath spoke about developing the birthplace of bhakti-era poet Ravidas in Varanasi and the Valmiki ashram in Chitrakoot, the beautification of Bijli Pasi Fort in Lucknow, naming Ayodhya airport after Valmiki, development of a memorial for Maharaja Suheldev in Bahraich and forming women battalions of the Provincial Armed Constabulary after Uda Devi, Jhalkari Bai and Avanti Bai. On the other hand, Adityanath accused the SP of changing the name of a medical college in Kannauj that was named after Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Also read: Milkipur Bypoll: SP Alleges Ayodhya Police Lodging False Cases Against its Members, Writes to EC
“The SP insults Ambedkar and the icons of social justice,” said Adityanath.
Ahead of voting day, however, Awadhesh Prasad has stolen the limelight with his emotional expression of caste identity, providing the Opposition with the much-needed momentum.
Seeking votes for his son, Awadhesh Prasad said that he could have provided him with a lucrative job or post when the SP was in power, but he preferred that his son dedicate his life to serve the people. “I am not some random person. I am the progeny of Veerangana Uda Devi Pasi. I am the child of Maharaja Bijli Pasi,” said Awadesh Prasad, underling his caste identity in a last-minute appeal to voters.
In the summer of 2024, the veteran leader scripted a historic victory as he defeated the BJP in the land of the Ram Mandir, and provided a deathly blow to the saffron party’s project of showcasing the temple as the biggest achievement of its electoral politics. The event was even more remarkable as Awadhesh Prasad, a Dalit, secured a win on an unreserved seat, a rarity in Indian politics. The first anniversary of the Ram Mandir’s consecration ceremony was marked on January 22. And once again, the presence of the 79-year-old Pasi leader Awadhesh Prasad is tormenting the saffron party.
