This is a reply to the article “Ambedkar appointed an RSS man as his election agent. That’s how close two were” by Mr Rajiv Tuli and published on 23rd of April 2020 on The Print. On the outset, I would like to make it a point that Tuli’s arguments have been banked on throughout his article on the book Dr Ambedkar aur Samajik Kranti ki Yatra, a book authored by Dattopant Thengadi. This is also the only source he has banked upon, aka Sanghi literature. Mr Tuli also happens to be a person who doesn’t hail from Vidarbha region Maharashtra but claims to have knowledge of its politics. This article disturbed me as a person who comes from a family that has been a part of the movement actively. In Fact, the name Rajabhau Khobragade that is mentioned in this article happens to be my maternal grandfather. Hence, throughout this article, I make my arguments majorly from the anecdotes my family has shared with me and also my reading.

Like I said earlier, the reading of his article bothered me a lot. The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was visiting my grandfather, Marotrao Kamble. He was a senior leader of the Republican Party and was actively a part of the movement when Babasaheb Ambedkar contested elections from Bandhara. Though he was only 16 years old, he was with other relatives of mine such as Bihar Kamble who happens to be an active member of the Scheduled Caste Federation, then. My grandfather also shared anecdotes of Rupate, N.M Kamble and B.C Kamble staying at my place in Nanhori village. However, to gain better insights to nullify the arguments of Mr Tuli I did speak to others over call and could not meet them in person due to the nationwide lockdown. I called Tarachand Khandekar from Nagpur, V.D Meshram of Chandrapur and Gajhbiye sir of Gondia District.

One of the claims that Mr Tuli makes regarding the appointment of Dattopant Thengadi as Babasaheb’s election agent. Mr Tuli writes in the article that Thengadi came into contact with Babasaheb through Shri Haridas Babu Avale, Barrister Rajabhau Khobragde, Shri RS Gawai and Shri Haraba Godane. I can admit all the above-mentioned names except R.S Gawai because Gawai Saheb was a junior during the time of Bhandara election. This will help one derived at the carelessness and how hurriedly this article has been written by Tuli. It appears to me as if Tuli randomly picked up the names of the then Republican Leaders and produced them all as it is without any assessment.

However, I found only one relation between Babasaheb and Dattopant Thengadi. Wamanrao Godbole used to attend shakhas of RSS in SitaBuldi area of Nagpur and he came in contact with Dattopant Thengadi. Thengadi requested Godbole to arrange his meeting with Babasaheb Ambedkar and it also happened. Thengadi was a staunch critic of the Congress party and used to oppose congress on every forum. Hence, this remains the sole reason for the presence of Thengadi in Bandhara during the elections.

Read also – Fekulogy of RSS and ThePrint – Spreading Fake Claims About Babasaheb Ambedkar

The Declared Alliance was between the Scheduled Caste Federation and Socialist Party. There is no mention of Bhartiya Janasangh in the alliance. Babasaheb had a decent relation with Mr Ashok Mehta who was a renowned socialist leader of that time. Why would Babasaheb or Mehta, a socialist name Dattopant Thengadi who is not a member of the Federation as the election agent? Hence, on the basis of this simple political understanding, this claim of Mr Tuli stands invalid.

Another baseless claim that Tuli makes and argues it based on the oral history is Babasaheb telling the party workers “The day anyone of you become a greater Dalit than Thengadi, I will make them the general secretary of the Federation”. This gives a very interesting twist to the article I’ve claimed above that my maternal grandfather was in charge of Babasaheb’s Bhandara election. And later he was appointed as National General Secretary of the Scheduled Caste Federation by Babasaheb, himself. Professor Jhanjal has authored the biography of Barrister Rajabhau Khobragade. In this, he has claimed that Dr.Ambedkar made Rajabhau the person in charge of the Bhandara region. This obviously seems more possible than  Thengadi being the agent of the election because Rajabhau was then an office-bearer of the Scheduled caste Federation in Vidarbha Region.

Tuli has tried to draw a parallel between Babasaheb and Sangh’s views against the Communists and this fact cannot be denied that Babasaheb had critical views against the communists but the views of both are nowhere parallel to each other because Babasaheb criticized communists for being Upper-caste dominated and for their advocacy of violence. Here even RSS is an upper-caste dominated organisation because till date they have not appointed a Single Scheduled Caste person as their chief and Sangh’s involvement in Violence need not be discussed.

Read also – Against RSS – How Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar Thoughts Are Against Any Manifestation Of Brahminism

Tuli in his article cites an example of the book “What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables”. Hence, I would like to suggest Mr Tuli and other followers of this ideology read “The Philosophy of Hinduism” and “Riddles in Hinduism”. I would also like to quote the famous and favourite book of the “Pakistan or Partition of India” “If Hindu Raj does become a fact, it will, no doubt, be the greatest calamity for this country. No matter what the Hindus say. Hinduism is a menace to liberty, equality and fraternity. On that account, it is incompatible with democracy. Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost.” In an interview to the Loksatta, Prakash Ambedkar says “He was fighting not only against the congress but also against Jan Sangh and RSS, though RSS was a stronger organisation”. Hence,  there is no parallel between Dr. Ambedkar and Congress and no parallel between Dr. Ambedkar and RSS.

Author – Dipankar Kamble