Prakash Ambedkar

Prakash Yashwant Ambedkar (born 10 May 1954), popularly known as Balasaheb Ambedkar, is an Indian politician, writer and lawyer. He is the president of Vanchit Bahujan Agadi political party. He is a three-time Member of Parliament. He was a member of the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha of India representing the Lok Sabha constituency of Akola, Maharashtra. His father's name is Y. B. Ambedkar (nicknamed "Bhaiyasaheb"), and his mother's name is Meera. He is a Navayana Buddhist. He has two younger brothers B. Y. Ambedkar and A. Y. Ambedkar 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 and Muslims. The Akola Pattern is named after the Akola district of Maharashtra where Prakash Ambedkar's political party is based. 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 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."