Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar


Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar , popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, social activist, writer and lawyer. He is the president of political party called the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He is a three-time Member of Parliament. He is the grandson of B. R. Ambedkar. He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha Akola constituency of India. He has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament.

Personal life

Prakash Ambedkar is the eldest grandson of B. R. Ambedkar and Ramabai Ambedkar. His father's name is Yashwant Ambedkar and mother's name is Meera. The Ambedkar family are followers of Navayana Buddhism. He has two younger brothers Bhimrao and Anandraj, and a sister Ramabai who is married to Anand Teltumbde. Prakash Ambedkar is married to Anjali Maydeo, with whom he has a son.

Early life and education

Prakash Ambedkar was born on 10 May 1954 in Bombay. In 1972 he completed his higher secondary education from St. Stanislaus High School, Mumbai. In 1978, he received Bachelor of Arts from Siddhartha College of Arts, and in 1981 he got Bachelor of Laws in Siddharth College of Law, Mumbai.

Political career

On 4 July 1994, Prakash Ambedkar established the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh. This party was a splintered group amongst other factions of the Republican Party of India which was constituted on directions of his grandfather after his death. The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha contested established political parties like Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party in the Akola municipal elections, emerging victorious. The success was gained through the new social engineering brought by Prakash Ambedkar which later known as "Akola Pattern". The expansion of the party continued after 1995, that some of the non-Dalit parties and organisations have joined the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.
Ambedkar was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1990 - 1996. He was elected in the 12th Lok Sabha elections from Akola Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 as a candidate of the Republican Party of India. Second time from the same constituency in 1999, he was elected as the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh's candidate for the 13th Lok Sabha elections and he was a member of the Lok Sabha till 2004.
Ambedkar followed a policy, on the one hand, of regrouping the Dalits, and on the other of following a moderate line seeking alliance with those opposition parties which sympathised with the Dalit cause. It was with their support that he twice contested elections to the parliament from non-reserved constituencies. Though not successful in getting elected, he polled a sizeable number of votes on both the occasions.
The RPI organised a march from Nashik to Mumbai to press its demands, prominent among which was the transfer of vatan lands to their Dalit cultivators. In response, the government appointed a committee with Prakash Ambedkar as a member.
The RPI's greatest success was in 1988 when Ambedkar, in alliance with other Dalit organisations, took out a massive demonstration in Mumbai. The occasion was the controversy regarding a move to delete from the official publication of B. R. Ambedkar's writings a portion called Riddles of Hinduism. The deletion move was supported by Shiv Sena which by this time was emerging as a militant Hindu political organisation. To bring all Dalit organisations together for this purpose, Prakash Ambedkar formed Ambedkar Vichar Samvardhak Samiti. Under the leadership of Prakash Ambedkar, R. S. Gavai and others on 5 February 1988, Dalits put on a massive show of strength which brought more than four to five lakh followers of B. R. Ambedkar into the heart of Mumbai city from different parts of Maharashtra and also from Gujarat and other states. Within days of the Dalit demonstration in Mumbai, the 'Riddles' issue was resolved at a meeting on February 10 of representatives of the Shiv Sena, the Maratha Mahasangh and the various groups of the Republican Party of India and the Dalit Panthers called by the state chief minister. It was agreed at the meeting that the relevant appendix would be retained intact in the fourth volume of Ambedkar's works; only a line would be added to clarify that the Maharashtra government did not agree or disagree with B. R. Ambedkar's comments on the Hindu gods.
Bahujan Mahasangh, a political formation working in close association with the Bharatiya Republican Party led by Prakash Ambedkar, was formed in February 1993. In the summer of that year, its candidate won Kinwat legislative assembly seat in Nanded district, defeating Congress and BJP contestants. The alliance between Bharatiya Republican Party and Bahujan Mahasangh visualised a joint front of Dalits and OBCs whose cultural identity was essentially non-Brahmin. Bahujan Mahasangh argued that in the Brahminical social order, both Dalits and OBCs find themselves equally oppressed culturally. Bahujan Mahasangh had defined the Bahujan category to include Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and Muslims, as well as caste groups such as Shudra and ati-Shudra, tribes, women, poor Marathas, and poor Brahmins, thus including all those who are subjugated through caste, class and gender exploitation.
In memory of Mahar soldiers who fought in the Battle of Koregaon, their descendants visit Koregaon Bhima on 1 January every year to honor them. On 1 January 2018, Buddhists, as well as some Hindu dalit, OBC and Sikh people visited the 'Jay sthambh' at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district, Maharashtra. These people were violently attacked by Hindutva ideological people. Prakash Ambedkar accused Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote of seducing the invading Hindutva people and demanded the police investigation and strict action against the two. But the Maharashtra government and the state police did not take any action against the culprits. So on 3 January 2018, he called on the people of Maharashtra to call "Maharashtra Bandh". This call to shut down Maharashtra received a huge response from the people and the bandh was a success. The bandh was seen across Maharashtra including Mumbai. According to Ambedkar, more than 50% Maharashtrian people participated in the bandh. Earlier only Bal Thackeray of Shiv Sena had the power to shut down Mumbai. Subsequently, Prakash Ambedkar's political power increased. He came to the center of Ambedkarite and Bahujan community. The youth group in particular became his supporters.
Prakash Ambedkar founded new political party the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi on 20 March 2018 with its ideology primarily emphasizing Constitutionalism, Ambedkarism, Secularism, Socialism and Progressivism. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi registered as a political party a year later on 15 March 2019, prior to the 2019 elections for Lok Sabha. It is supported by nearly 100 small political parties and social organizations. Prakash Ambedkar is the supremo of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
On 14 March 2019, Ambedkar has announced the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. He said that, despite the 'Akola pattern' of social engineering through the success of the Bharipa-Bahujan Mahasangh, the word 'Bharipa' had limited the expansion of the party. He said that after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharip-Bahujan Mahasangh will merge with the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, because the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi is acceptable in a broad sense.
Ambedkar contested and lost from both Akola and Solapur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Controversy

Prakash Ambedkar courted controversy by asking his supporters to resort to troll against those who criticised his statement asking for proof on surgical strikes conducted by Indian Air Force. Many critics called it militant Dalit politics.

Writings

Ambedkar has held following positions,