Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) President Prakash Ambedkar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Political Party: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi
Parliamentary Constituency: Akola, Maharashtra
With distinguished political acumen and sharp negotiation skills he acquired through a career in the political, social and activism domain, VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar is committed to the Dalit-Ambedkarite-Republican cause.
The grandson of Bhimrao Ambedkar and a lawyer by profession, he has taken up several important causes, including the Rohit Vemula suicide case and the Bhima-Koregaon case.
Ambedkar (69), founded the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) in 1994, which had its roots in the Republican Party of India. BBM merged into the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), a political party he founded in 2019.
Ahead of the LS and Maharashtra Assembly polls, VBA — which comprises various groups of Dalits, tribals, Dhangars, Kolis, Agris, Banjaras, Malis, Kaikadis and other communities — has floated the Third Front, which may play a spoilsport for both MVA-I.N.D.I.A bloc and Maha Yuti.
In 2017, Prakash alongside his son Sujat, relaunched Prabuddh Bharat (Enlightened India), a newspaper founded by B R Ambedkar.
He stirred controversy last year when he bowed before the tomb of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and also defended the historical significance of the emperor’s 50-year rule.
In 1998 and 1999, he won the LS polls from Akola and was a one-term RS member. However, he lost the seat later.
With plans to recontest the same seat, Ambedkar can spring many more surprises.