Sulekha Narayan Kumbhare (born 1962) is an Indian politician, lawyer and Ambedkarite-

Buddhist 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 ...

activist. She is founder and president of the

Bahujan Republican Ekta Manch The Bahujan Republican Ekta Manch (BREM) is a regional political party from Maharashtra, India, led by Sulekha Kumbhare. It supported the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the 2014 general election, but extended its support to the National D ...

. She served as

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

from 1999 to 2014 in the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the executive branch of the Indian states of india, state of Maharashtra. The government is led by the List of chief ministers of Maharashtra, chief minister (currently Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024) ...

. Kumbhare was member of the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (ISO: ''Mahārāṣṭra Vidhāna Sabhā'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. It consists of 288 members directly elected from single-seat constituenci ...

(1999 to 2004) from the Kamthi constituency in

Nagpur district Nagpur district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is a Districts of Maharashtra, district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district ...

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) was a political party in India. It had its roots in the All-India Scheduled Castes Federation led by N. Sivaraj and B. R. Ambedkar. The Party was e ...

. She is a member of the

National Commission for Minorities The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, established in 1993. It is responsible to safeguard and protect the interests of minorities—Buddhists, Christians, J ...

. She is an Ambedkarite, and spends the rest of her life in propagating

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumbhare, Sulekha 1962 births Republican Party of India politicians Living people 21st-century Indian politicians Navayana Buddhists 20th-century Indian Buddhists 21st-century Indian Buddhists Buddhist activists 21st-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian lawyers People from Nagpur district State cabinet ministers of Maharashtra Maharashtra MLAs 1995–1999 Marathi politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Women members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly