Whereas taking oath within the Lok Sabha earlier this week, Awadhesh Prasad, the newly-elected Samajwadi Social gathering MP from Faizabad, invoked ‘Veerangana’ Uda Devi and ‘Maharaja’ Bijli Pasi, two outstanding personalities of the Pasi (Dalit) group. Prasad himself belongs to the Pasi group, who quantity over three lakh within the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency and who’re believed to have voted en masse to elect him over his BJP opponent.
Born in Ujirao, Lucknow, Uda Devi was a part of the royal guard of Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh, and took part within the 1857 Mutiny. She is credited with having mobilised individuals to take up arms in opposition to the British.
On November 16, 1857, Uda Devi was among the many troopers who clashed with the British regiment stationed close to the Gomti River in Lucknow. It’s mentioned that she killed a minimum of three dozen British troopers from atop a tree earlier than she was noticed and killed.
On November 16 yearly, occasions are organised to commemorate the martyrdom of Uda Devi at numerous locations, largely in central Uttar Pradesh. She stays an icon particularly for the Dalits.
Who was ‘Maharaja’ Bijli Pasi?
The tales of Bijli Pasi are standard among the many Pasis of central UP districts corresponding to Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Barabanki, Bahraich, Sultanpur and Allahabad.
Whereas there are a lot of outstanding Pasi faces from right here corresponding to brothers Daldev, Baldev and Kakoran, Bijli Pasi is among the many most outstanding, having dominated over some elements of UP within the medieval interval. The ruins of the fort from the place he dominated nonetheless stand in Lucknow, whereas a statue has been put up of the Pasi icon within the state capital.
The Yogi Adityanath-led BJP authorities in UP has introduced plans to renovate and redevelop Bijli Pasi’s fort as a vacationer vacation spot.
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How important are the Pasis?
The Pasis make up round 7% of UP’s Scheduled Caste inhabitants, making them the most important Dalit group within the state after the Jatavs. Whereas the Pasis even have important presence in different states, their largest inhabitants is in UP.
Within the current Lok Sabha polls, in a lift to the SP that’s largely seen as a Yadav-Muslim-centric get together, 5 Pasi candidates fielded by the SP received, in comparison with three of the BJP.
Earlier, the group was largely seen as a supporter of the BSP. Because the BSP’s base more and more shrunk and have become confined to the Jatavs, the group shifted its allegiance to the BJP, prompted by the BJP’s aggressive wooing of SCs.
How has the SP managed to woo over the Pasis?
Other than Faizabad, Pasi candidates fielded by the SP from Mohanlalganj, Kaushambi, Machhlishahr and Lalganj Lok Sabha constituencies received within the current polls. R Okay Chaudhary, who raised the demand to interchange the sengol sceptre in Parliament with a reproduction of the Structure, is the SP’s Mohanlalganj MP. The win from Faizabad was the sweetest for the SP because the constituency contains Ayodhya, the location of the grand Ram Temple inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this yr.
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As a part of its efforts to broaden its base among the many Pasis, the SP has been organising a programme at its headquarters on the demise anniversary of Uda Devi, to honour her contribution in the course of the 1857 revolt.
Mithai Lal Bharti, president of the SP’s Dalit outfit Samajwadi Babasaheb Ambedkar Vahini, mentioned that the get together has all the time honoured nice personalities of all communities when in energy, together with Uda Devi and Bijli Pasi. If the SP returns to energy in UP, extra steps can be taken on this path, Bharti mentioned.
BJP’s waning vote-bank
The SP’s Chaudhary received from Mohanlalganj defeating one other outstanding Pasi face, former Union minister Kaushal Kishore of the BJP.
Kishore claimed that the SP had managed to win Pasi help courtesy “false propaganda” on the Structure and reservations. The INDIA events mentioned that if the BJP returned with a brute majority, it will change the Structure and take away reservations.
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Jai Prakash Rawat, the brand new BJP MP from Misrikh, mentioned, “After taking oath, I too had raised the slogan “Pasi samaj ki jai”. I spoke about all Pasis. He (Awadhesh Prasad) solely talked about the names of Uda Devi and Bijli Pasi, presumably to ship some message. We (BJP) too respect each icons. There are extra nice leaders from our group. If I had taken all of their names, it will have taken extra time. So I discussed your complete Pasi samaj as an alternative.”
Rawat additionally accepted that the variety of Pasi MPs of the BJP has fallen this time, including that anti-incumbency could possibly be an element behind this.
The three Pasi leaders of the BJP who received the current Lok Sabha elections are Ashok Kumar Rawat (Misrikh), Jai Prakash (Hardoi), and Kamlesh Paswan (Bansgaon). Paswan has been made a Minister of State (MoS) within the Union authorities.
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