New Delhi: Sudama Prasad, 63, began his journey in a small family-operated sweet shop in Pavana village, located in Bihar’s Bhojpur district. This month, he made history by entering Parliament as the first Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) or CPI(ML) MP in 35 years.

After years of advocating for the rights of Dalits, the landless and farmers in Bhojpur, he successfully contested against Arrah’s sitting BJP MP, former Union Minister RK Singh, defeating him by a margin of nearly 60,000 votes. The last CPI-ML member to win a Lok Sabha seat was Rameshwar Prasad in 1989, representing the Indian People’s Front (IPF) from the same Arrah constituency.

Prasad will join Raja Ram Singh, who won the Karakat seat, as one of two CPI-ML MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha. Singh triumphed over NDA’s Upendra Kushwaha and Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, who ran as an Independent. Together, they secured two of the five seats allocated to the Left Front within Bihar’s Opposition alliance.

Endured Feudal and Police Atrocities

As he prepares to enter Parliament, he reflects on his lifetime of social activism. “In my youth, while helping at my father’s sweet shop, I witnessed feudal and police atrocities, which made me restless and motivated my activism. I was even falsely accused in a murder case, but the Supreme Court acquitted me,” English daily The Hindu has quoted him as saying.

He matriculated from Arrah’s Har Prasad Das Jain School in 1978 and attended the town’s Jain College. However, in 1982, he left his studies to become a full-time CPI-ML worker, engaging in cultural activism and participating in plays like ‘Sarkari Saandh’, ‘Kamdhenu’ and ‘Singhasan Khali Karo’.

Prasad, the third of four brothers and two sisters, first entered electoral politics in 1990, unsuccessfully contesting the Bihar Assembly election from the Arrah seat under the IPF banner. He also ran in the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Buxar but lost to Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Jagdanand Singh. His breakthrough came in 2015 when he won the Tarari Assembly seat, a victory he repeated in the 2020 Assembly election.

Revitalizing Public Libraries

In 2022, as chairperson of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha Library Committee, Prasad made history by presenting a report on the condition of state libraries to the Assembly. He fought to save the 130-year-old Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna from partial demolition by the Bihar government.

He also worked to revive 439 closed public libraries, advocating for their use by marginalized communities.

Reflecting on his historic election as the first CPI-ML MP in 35 years, Prasad expressed his gratitude, “It is a blessing, and it is the people of Arrah who ensured my victory. People belonging to different sections of the society voted for me. Being connected to the grassroots, I will raise the issues of my constituency in Parliament. It is a matter of great pride that the voice of the CPI-ML will now be heard in Parliament.”

Grassroots Activism

Prasad’s activism extends beyond electoral politics. He has led numerous protests, including the paddy procurement movement, and has been a vocal advocate for the modernization of the Sone River canals, the construction of the Kadvan reservoir, bridges on the Sone and Ganga rivers and the Arrah-Sasaram railway line.

He has been imprisoned twice, once in 1985 and again in 1989, for protesting against police repression, spending a total of one year and eight months in jail.

Belonging to the Halwai community and the Kanu caste, which are categorized as OBC in Bihar, Prasad set a personal example of social reform by marrying Shobha Mandal, from a Scheduled Caste, in 1993. They have two sons, Abhinav and Anubhav Prasad.

In 1995, he continued his fight for social justice by confronting the Ranvir Sena, an upper-caste militia accused of several massacres of Dalits and poor people in Bhojpur.

Back in Pavana, Prasad’s brothers still operate the family sweet shop, maintaining the roots of the CPI-ML’s newest MP.