The peasant movement of Awadh against the taluqdars (1920-21), which led to the formation of the Awadh Kisan Sabha, was led by:

The peasant movement of Awadh against the taluqdars (big landlords) in 1920-1921 was led by Baba Ramchandra, a sannyasi (ascetic).

About Baba Ramchandra:

• He was born in Maharashtra around 1875.
• As a young man, he went to Fiji as an indentured labourer, and later returned to India.
• He came to Awadh and became a wandering sadhu, reciting the Ramayana (Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas) to the villagers.
• He used the stories of the Ramayana to inspire the peasants against injustice.

NCERT on the Awadh peasant movement:

• NCERT notes that in Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra, a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured labourer.
• The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded from peasants exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses.
• Peasants had to do begar (forced labour) and work at landlords' farms without any payment.
• As tenants, they had no security of tenure, being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land.
• The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords.
• In many places, nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by panchayats to deprive landlords of the services of even barbers and washermen.
• NCERT notes that in June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru began going around the villages in Awadh, talking to the villagers, and trying to understand their grievances.
• By October, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra and a few others.
• Within a month, over 300 branches had been set up in the villages around the region.

The movement turns violent:

• In 1921, the movement spread, and in some places houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were taken over.
• The Congress leaders were unhappy with the violence.

Results:

The government passed the Oudh Rent (Amendment) Act of 1921, which gave some relief to the tenants.

Why not the other options?

Sahajanand Saraswati and N. G. Ranga led later peasant movements; Patel led the Bardoli and Kheda movements.