Rajabhau Khobragade

Baburao Khobragade, affectionately  called Rajabhau, was born on 25.09.1925 in Chandrapur, Maharashtra to Shri Devaji and Smt. Indira Bai. His father was a forest contractor and a social worker.

Rajabhau Khobragade had his early education in Jubilee High School, Chandrapur.  He then went on to clear the Inter Science exam from Nagpur Science College in 1943 and B.A. exam from Morris College, Nagpur in 1945. On the advice of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, he went to London to study Law at the Lincoln College in 1950.

His leadership qualities were evident from his student days. He was elected the Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Caste Students Federation from 1943-1945. At the young age of 27, he was elected as the President of the City Council. During his tenure from 1952-55 he carried out several developmental works for the city. He was also elected as the Chairman of the Nagpur State Scheduled  Caste Federation in October 1953.

Rajabhau had great organisational and team building capabilities. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, spotting the talent, had entrusted the election campaign and the campaign for conversion to Buddhism to Rajabhau which he completed successfully. After the death of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Rajabhau Khobragade was instrumental  in bringing together the leaders of the Dalit movement and forming the Republican Party of India to fulfil the wishes of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

At the age of 33, in 1958, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha and again for second time in December 1966. He had the honour of being the  Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from December 1961 to April 1972. Rajabhau was a member of the Rajya Sabha for 18 years.

He had a firm conviction that giving lands to landless farmers would reduce unemployment and boost the production of food grains. To achieve this object he started Satyagraha in 1961.

Another area of his interest was education of the downtrodden. Realizing that good education alone can uplift downtrodden people and bring all round growth and development, he opened schools and colleges. He advocated free education to all children from the age of 6-14 years.

He also  started  a weekly  news.Paper, Prajasatta, using it as a vehicle to put across his views.

He visited many countries like Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, USA, Hongkong, China, Bhutan, Thailand and Ceylon. In September 1965, on the invitation of the American government, Rajabhau visited USA where he met Martin Luther King with whom he discussed the civil rights issues.

Rajabhau Khobragade was a revolutionary leader who worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden till he died on 19.04.1984.