Born to M. Venkataiah and D.V. Puttamma couple on Aug. 6, 1947, in Ashokapuram, V. Sreenivasa Prasad became a volunteer of Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (RSS) from childhood until 1972 and was active in the then Jan Sangh and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP) for about 15 years, until he took a political plunge in 1974 .
Prasad had his primary education at Ashokapuram Government School and High School education at Sarada Vilas High School in Krishnamurthypuram. Later, he obtained B.Sc degree from Sarada Vilas College.
Prasad, one of the tallest Dalit leaders and an influential leader of the State, was a Congressman most of the time during his 5-decade-long political career that began in the 1970s. He was a 6-time Lok Sabha MP and a 2-time MLA.
After taking part in many public movements, campaigns and struggles, Prasad made his electoral debut in 1974 by-election held to K.R. Assembly segment of the city that took place on Mar. 17,1974, as an independent candidate backed by Anna DMK and lost the polls. He later contested the Chamarajanagar seat in the 1977 LS polls on a Janata Party ticket and lost.
He thereafter contested from T. Narasipur Assembly segment on Janata Party ticket in 1978 and lost again, before he tasted first electoral success when he won from Chamarajanagar LS seat on a Congress ticket in 1980. Since then his political journey was marked by significant milestones.
After smelling victory in four successive LS polls (1980,1984, 1989 &1991), Prasad, who was denied a Congress ticket, contested as an independent candidate in the 1996 LS polls and lost to A. Siddaraju of Janata Dal.
Though he contested again on a Congress ticket in the 1998 LS polls, he lost to A. Siddaraju for the second time, due to infighting in the Congress. In 1999, Prasad won on a Janata Dal (United) ticket, which was part of the BJP led NDA following which he served as Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs in the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet and finally in 2019 on a BJP ticket from Chamarajanagar (SC) seat.
A two-time MLA, Prasad, after recording a thumping victory in 2013 Assembly polls from Nanjangud (SC) Assembly segment, served as the Revenue Minister in the first Siddaramaiah-led Congress Government from 2013 to 2016, before he was dropped from the Cabinet.
A miffed Prasad later quit his Assembly seat and the Congress. He joined the BJP in early 2017 and contested on the party ticket in the Nanjangud by-polls held in 2017 and lost to Kalale Keshavamurthy of the Congress.
He, however, did not contest the 2018 Assembly polls. Although Prasad had thought of political retirement then, his followers forced him to contest from Chamarajanagar LS seat on a BJP ticket in the 2019 polls. His gamble paid off and Prasad won against incumbent Congress MP R. Dhruvanarayan by a slender margin of 1,817 votes. But as his health began to deteriorate, Prasad announced his retirement from active politics in 2021 saying that he would never contest an election again. Prasad finally bid farewell to politics at a programme organised at Kalamandira in city on Mar.17, 2024 marking his 50 year political career.
Prasad, who was introduced to politics by revolutionary Dalit leader B. Basavalingappa, was also closely associated with many political stalwarts from across all parties such as Ramakrishna Hegde, Veerendra Patil, M.S. Gurupadaswamy among others.
This post was published on April 29, 2024 7:44 pm