Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (born 10 May 1954), popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the president of

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

called Vanchit Bahujan Agadi.Biographical Sketch of Member of 13th Lok Sabha
/ref> He is a three-time Member of Parliament (MP). He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and twice represented the Lok Sabha constituency of Akola,

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He has served in both houses of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

Personal life

Prakash Ambedkar is the grandson of Indian politician

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

, and Ramabai. His father's name is

Yashwant Ambedkar Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar (12 December 1912 — 17 September 1977), also known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian socio-religious activist, newspaper editor, politician, and activist of Dalit Buddhist movement, Ambedkarite Buddhist movement. ...

(Bhaiyasaheb), and his mother's name is Meera. The

Ambedkar family The Ambedkar family is the family of B. R. Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) who was an Indian polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies ...

are followers of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. 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 and they have a son named Sujat.

Activities

Prakash Ambedkar has organised mass rallies at the national level, including in response to the ''Riddles'' march case, Rohith Vemula suicide case, Ambedkar Bhavan demolition case, Una flogging incident and 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case. Prakash Ambedkar is noted for having designed the political strategy known as the Akola Pattern of political organising to appeal to all excluded masses, including Dalits, Muslims and other excluded peoples. The Akola Pattern is named after the Akola district of Maharashtra where Prakash Ambedkar's political party is based. In 2017, together with his son Sujat, Prakash Ambedkar relaunched Prabuddh Bharat (Enlightened India), the newspaper his grandfather

founded in 1956. Prakash Ambedkar has also been working to archive editions of the original Prabuddh Bharat from the 1950s, after copies were lost in the controversial demolition of the Buddha Bhushan printing press in 2016. Prakash Ambedkar has also worked to preserve his grandfather's legacy as architect of the Indian Constitution and has been quoted as saying "The country will survive only if the Constitution survives." Prakash Ambedkar attracted controversy and criticism after he threatened the Times Now anchor Anand Narsimhan to physically harm the anchor by saying that he would think what he could do to him if the governance gets changed. In June 2023, Ambedkar defended the historical significance of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's 50-year rule, urging people not to resort to abuse. Ambedkar made this statement while visiting the Aurangzeb memorial in Khuldabad, Aurangabad District. His visit coincided with arrests and clashes in the state related to social media posts praising Aurangzeb. Ambedkar questioned the notion of erasing history and asked, "What's wrong with visiting the Aurangzeb memorial? He was a Mughal emperor who ruled here for 50 years."

References

External links

Parliament Biography

75 Years of Poona Act
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambedkar, Prakash Yeshwant Living people India MPs 1999–2004 Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra 1954 births Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh politicians People from Akola district Politicians from Mumbai Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Navayana Buddhists 20th-century Indian Buddhists 21st-century Indian Buddhists Republican Party of India politicians Prakash Yeshwant Dalit politicians