Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was an Indian economist, jurist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau. Ambedkar served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He later renounced Hinduism, converted to Buddhism and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement.
Bandh is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India and Nepal. It is similar to a general strike. During a bandh, a political party or a community declare a general strike. For example, a Bharat bandh is a call for a bandh across India, and a bandh can also be called for an individual state or municipality.
The Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh was an Indian political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar on 4 July 1994. The party was a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and had its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The president of the party was Prakash Ambedkar. The complete name of the party is Bharatiya Republican Paksha - Bahujan Mahasangh. BBM was primarily based in Maharashtra. In 2019, BBM merged into the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, new political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar.
Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai, popularly known as Dadasaheb Gavai, was an Indian politician, social activist, senior leader of the Ambedkarite movement, and founder of the Republican Party of India (Gavai). He was the President of Ambedkar's ideological party Republican Party of India, through this party, he did many works in political and social fields. Gavai also worked with Babasaheb Ambedkar, a polymath. He was the Governor of the three states of Bihar, Sikkim and Kerala, as well as he has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Gavai was a 30-year member (MLC) of the Maharashtra Legislative Council during which he served on the posts of the chairman, the deputy chairman, and the Opposition leader of the council.
Ramdas Bandu Athawale is an Indian politician, social activist and trade unionist from Maharashtra. He is the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a splinter group of the Republican Party of India and has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar since 1999. Currently, he is the Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India since 2016 and represents Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's Parliament since 2014. Previously, he was Lok Sabha MP from Pandharpur from 1999 to 2009 and from Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency from 1998 to 1999. He was also Cabinet minister of Maharashtra from 1990 to 1995 and a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 1996.
Panjabrao Shamrao Deshmukh, also known as Bhausaheb Deshmukh was a social activist and a leader to farmers in India. He was the Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954.
Bapu Chandrasen Kamble was an Indian politician, writer, editor, jurist, and social activist. He is also an Ambedkarite thinker, translator and biographer. Kamble was the leader of Republican Party of India (Kamble). He is from Maharashtra. He has written a Marathi biography of B. R. Ambedkar called "Samagra Ambedkar Charitra".
Anand Teltumbde is an Indian scholar, writer, and human rights activist who is a management professor at the Goa Institute of Management. He has written extensively about the caste system in India and has advocated for the rights of Dalits.
Eleanor Zelliot was an American writer, professor of Carleton College and specialist on the India, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, women of Asia, Untouchables, and social movements.
Although a parliamentary democracy, Indian politics has increasingly become dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections. Family members have also led the Congress party for most of the period since 1978 when Indira Gandhi floated the then Congress(I) faction of the party. It also is fairly common in many political parties in Maharashtra. The dynastic phenomenon is seen from national level down to district level and even village level.The three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj established in the 1960s also helped to create and consolidate the dynastic phenomenon in rural areas. Apart from government, political families also control cooperative institutions, mainly cooperative sugar factories, district cooperative banks in the state, and since the 1980s private for profit colleges. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also features several senior leaders who are dynasts. In Maharashtra, the NCP has particularly high level of dynasticism.
Dr. Savita Bhimrao Ambedkar, was an Indian social activist, doctor and the second wife of B.R. Ambedkar.
The 2018 Riots of Koregaon Bhima refers to violence during an annual celebratory gathering on 1 January 2018 at Koregaon Bhima to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima. The violence and stone pelting by a crowd at the gathering resulted in the death of a 28-year old youth and injuries to five others. The annual celebration, also called Elgar Parishad convention, was organised by retired justices B. G. Kolse Patil and P. B. Sawant. Justice Sawant stated that the term "Elgar" meant loud invitation or loud declaration.
Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar was the wife of B. R. Ambedkar, who said her support was instrumental in helping him pursue his higher education and his true potential. She has been the subject of many biographical movies and books. Several landmarks across India have been named after her. She is also known as Ramai.
The Elgaar Parishad was an event held on 31 December 2017 to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima. It was organised by a coalition of 260 non-profit organisations at Pune's Shaniwar Wada Fort, and had approximately 35,000 people in attendance. The program consisted of a number of cultural performances, speeches and slogans.
Sambhaji Bhide is a Hindutva activist from Maharashtra. Bhide, a native of Sangli district, was a full-time worker for the Hindu-nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, before leaving to form his own organisation, the Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, in the late 1980s. The organisation claimed to spread the teachings of Shivaji and his son Sambhaji.
The Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi is an Indian political party founded by Prakash Ambedkar on 20 March 2018. The party is primarily based in Maharashtra in India. Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi follows Phule-Ambedkarite ideology.
Yashwant Bhimrao Ambedkar, also known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian socio-religious activist, newspaper editor, politician, and activist of Ambedkarite Buddhist movement. He was the first and only surviving child of Ramabai Ambedkar and B. R. Ambedkar, Indian polymath, human rights activist, and the first law minister of India. Yashwant devoted his life to Buddhism after the demise of his father and kept pace his father's struggle for social equality. He tried to keep the Ambedkarite community united and also took an active part in the Dalit Buddhist movement.
Somnath Waghmare is an Indian documentary filmmaker based in the state of Maharashtra. His most prominent and most recent film, Battle of Bhima Koregaon, was critically received and screened in India and abroad. Till now, all his films have been documentary films and they have dealt with various social issues like the persecution of women and Dalit assertion in Maharashtra. He made his directorial debut with the short documentary feature I Am Not a Witch (2017). His upcoming films are Chaityabhoomi and Gail and Bharat.
