Dipankar Devesh Kamble
History of Ambedkarite Politics. The Ambedkarite politics of India had been a deciding factor in the electoral system. When Dr. Ambedkar established Independent Labour Party it proved as a potential counter to the then Indian National Congress in the Bombay Legislative Assembly. The Scheduled Caste Federation and Republican Party of India also made their presence felt in the Legislative Assemblies and the Parliament. The emergence of the Bahujan Samaj Party brought a fresh new air into Ambedkarite politics across India.
In 2014 the political scenario in India changed. Not a single Ambedkarite Party candidate was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014. BSP which always had some presence in Lok Sabha failed to secure even a single seat in the Lok Sabha. This had lowered the morale of the Ambedkarite masses and specially the youth.
The Ambedkarite Youth of Nagpur decided to come together and find some way to save the almost dead Ambedkarite Politics. The First Opportunity which appeared before them was the Nagpur University Senate election. The Ambedkarite youth started working for the Senate Elections day in and day out. Total seats in the Nagpur University Senate were 10 of which 5 were general and 5 reserved category seats. The Ambedkarite Panel which was named as “Parivartan Panel” won 2 seats in the general category- the category in which the upper castes and the right wing had always had complete dominance. And in the reserved category seats, the panel came second on all five seats; for 1 seat which was reserved for VJNT, the panel lost by less than 50 votes. And the other four seats in the reserved category the panel lost by less than 100 votes. In total, the Ambedkarite Panel won 2 seats out of 10 which can be regarded as 20% seats won by the Ambedkarite Panel. This was the greatest victory since the era of Republican Students’ Federation. Atul Khobrgade was the main coordinator and convener of the Parivartan Panel.
After this victory, the Ambedkarite Youth of Nagpur had set their eyes on the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. They tried to convince all the Ambedkarite Parties to reach mutual arrangements. A huge gathering was organised by the Ambedkarite Youth of Nagpur at the Vasantrao Deshpande Hall. Three Ambedkarite Parties initially participated with all regards and support but near election all the parties went alone. The Ambedkarite Youth of Maharashtra still didn’t lose hope they tried helping the best candidates of Ambedkarite parties in the election which includes convincing the independent candidates to withdraw their nominations so that the Ambedkarite votes should not get divided or scatter. And post-election, when the youths had no hope left from the leaders, the Ambedkarite Youth decided to take direct charge of politics and after several meetings, Atul Dada Khobragade was unanimously chosen by the Ambedkarite Youth of Nagpur for the Maharashtra Legislative Council – Graduate Constituency election. Since then Atul Khobragade and thousands of Ambedkarite Youth are working across Vidarbha to get him elected.
This is an Appeal to all the Graduates of Vidarbha region to register as voters for the Graduate constituency and vote for Atul Khobragade on 1st of December 2020 to get him elected by a huge margin.
Details
Any graduate who has finished his graduation before 2016 of the Vidarbha region can vote.
Candiadate’s Name : ATUL KHOBRAGADE
Election: Maharashtra Legislative Council- Graduate Constituency
Contact Details : 9422123866:, 9960814939:, 9371525359.
Website : www.ekibeki.in
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Dipankar Devesh Kamble is a student at National Law University, Nagpur, and Management member of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Education Society, Bramhapuri. He can be contacted at kambledipankar10@gmail.com
