L. N. Hardas

Hardas Laxmanrao Nagrale (6 January 1904 – 12 January 1939), popularly known as Babu Hardas, was an Indian Dalit leader, politician and social reformer. He was an ardent follower of B. R. Ambedkar and was pioneer of the practice of exchanging the greeting Jai Bhim amongst the Dalits. He was also a prominent labour leader in the Central Province and was the general secretary of the Independent Labour Party in the province. Hardas was also the first Member of the Legislative Assembly to be elected from Nagpur Kamptee constituency in 1937.

Life Hardas born in a Mahar family at Kamthi on 6 January 1904. His father, Laxmanrao Nagrare, was a clerk in the Railway Department. He passed his matriculation from Patwardhan High School, Nagpur. He also studied Sanskrit with Swami Brahmanand of the Arya Samaj at Nagpur.

Consistent with the social customs of that time, in 1920, aged 16, he married Sahubai.

Hardas was also a strong advocate of education for Dalits. He himself had completed matriculation, which was then a rare thing for Dalits. He started night schools at Kamthi in 1927 at the behest of the Mahar community. There were 86 boys and 22 girls learning in his school at a time. He also started one Sant Chokhamela Library at Kamthi around the same time. He wrote and published Songs of the Market and Songs of the Hearth. His articles were also published in Weekly Janta, which was edited by Ambedkar. Though he started his social activities long back, his political career get a push with this meeting. In the same year, B. R. Ambedkar requested him to give his witness in front of Simon Commission. Later in year 1930–31, with regards to the Second Round Table Conference, when question arose about the real leadership of untouchables, Hardas sent a telegram to Ramsay MacDonald, the then prime minister of the United Kingdom, that Dr. B. R. Ambedkar is the real leader of untouchables and not Mahatma Gandhi. He also created an opinion about this in different parts of the country and sent a total of 32 telegrams to McDonald by various untouchable leaders. In 1938, he was also nominated as the president of the CP and Berar branch of ILP. In 1939, he fell sick with tuberculosis and died on 12 January 1939. The greeting phrase Jai Bhim coined by him has become a general term of greeting amongst the Dalits in India. It is also a formal greeting phrase of Bahujan Samaj Party, a Dalit prominent and National Level party in India.

Film depiction In 2016, producer Dhananjay Galani made a film titled Bole India Jai Bhim which portrayed the life and work of Hardas.