Cabinet Member
Ambedkar commanded authority and respect. The aura of office was backed by fine intellect, vast erudition, and gift for a debate. He had the rare ability to reduce the most complex questions to simple terms. He was a man of strong likes and dislikes. He sometimes indulged in sweeping judgements of men and affairs. Yet his mind was basically logical with will power of penetrating ananlysis and a gift of clever thinking. Though he differed from Congress, he joined the Nehru Cabinet as a Law Member, piloted the Constitution through the Constituent Assembly; but when he differed from his colleagues, he resigned.

Champion of Human Rights
Ambedkar conceived the State as an organisation, the aim of which was "(1) to maintain the right of every subject to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and to free speech and free exercise of religion; (2) to remove social, political and economic inequality by providing by providing better opportunities to the submerged classes; and (3) to amke it possible for every subject to enjoy freedom from want and freedom from fear." He stood for people's local freedom and rights in post-independence India. He attached more importance to the eternal struggle of man for freedom. To him, the true freedom of man was not merely political. It was also social, economic, intellectual and spiritual.

Ambedkar endeavoured to reach some balance between the central authority of the state and the liberty of the individual, though individaul freedom should not be taken as to affect adversely the best interests of society and state for class benefit. To him the state was only a means for the furtherance of human ends. He combined individual respect with faith in state organisation. According to him, a good state was that which guaranteed protection against persecution of one community by another and also against internal disturbances, violence and disorder in any part of its territory.

Sociologist
Ambedkar, besides writing on economic and political topics, has also contributed much to the discussion of the social problems. His first writing on caste system appeared in a paper he read before the Anthropology Seminar (9th May 1910) of Dr. A.A. Goldenweiser, Columbia University, New York. He wrote on 'Caste in India : Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development' published in Indian Antiquary (Vol.IL VI, 1917), pp.81 - 95). He wrote two books about 'Shudras and Untouchables'. Besides these booklets, 'Annihilation of Caste, with a reply to Mahatma Gandhi' (undelivered address before the Annual Conference of Jat-Pat Todak Mandal, Lahore, 1936).

Ambedkar summarised his theory about the Shudras in following terms : (1) The Shudras were one of the Aryan communities of the solar race. (2) They ranked as the Kshatriya Varna in the Indo-Aryan Society. (3) There was a time when Indo-Aryan Society recognised only three Varnas. (4) There was continuous feud between the Shudra kings and the Brahmins, in which the Brahmins were subjected to many tryannies and indignities. (5) As a result of the hatred towards the Shudras due to their tyrannies and oppression, the Brahmins refused to invest the Shudras with the sacred thread. (6) Owing to the loss of the sacred thread, the Shudras became socially degraded, fell below the rank of the 'Vaishyas' and came to form the fourth varna." About the origin of untouchability he concluded that while untouchability didn't exist in 200 A.D. Cow-killing was made a capital offence by the Gupta kings, sometime in the 4th century A.D. Therefore, he concluded that untouchability must have arisen about 400 A.D. It is born out of the struggle between Buddhism and Brahminism.

An Estimate
Ambedkar was a renowned scholar, distinguished educationist, masterly statesman, powerful debator, daring liberators, authoritative constitutionalist, able administrators, famous defender of the revolutionary social Reformation movement and the fearless champion of the downtrodden masses. In him culture, wisdom, wit, humanism, instinct of reason, spirit of rationalism, reasonable ruthlessness for inequality, contempt for injustice and superstitions were harmoniously blended in right proportions. He was a versatile genius. gandhiji remarked that he was fierce and fearless.

He borrowed the evidence from the scriptures to show that discrimination had been made part of religion to facilitate exploitation of bulk of the people by those who had managed to place themselves at the highest rung of the social ladder. He subordinated the national struggle for natioanl independence and gave priority to the social emancipation of the untouchables. Gandhiji stressed that swaraj would be unattainable without the removal of the sins of untouchability. the natioanlist movement was influenced by the above teachings of Gandhiji.

Ambedkar united the untouchables, raised them to the level of human beings and put them on the social and political map of the India. Because of his leadership the bonds between elite and masses have grown and an active educated middle class is created which is to a great extent absorbed in government services; but it has limitations. He realised that the political enemy of the untouchables in a democracy where the majority ruled, was not the Brahman, (Though he was against Brahminism), but the dominant agricultural caste. He gave insistance on rights and privileges, to abolish Mahar Watan, and therby tried to break feudal bonds.

Ambedkar's legacy can be traced to three important institutions : (1) People's Educattion Society(1945), and its colleges; (2) Buddhist Society of India (1953), and (3) Republican Party of India (formed on the principles laid down by him, but after his death). He was convinced that the time had come to demand the abolition of reserved seats, and to bring the untouchables in a larger group.

He showed a great sskill in guiding the draft Constitution through the Constituent Assembly. But later developments brought him a sense of frustration and he said, "he was a 'hack' in preparing the Constitution." His complete rout in the general elections(1952) left him, disillusioned. The general sentiment was 'He is no longer a political force but his views continue to command attention and respect." One question remains to be answered: Why he characterized himself as community leader and not a labour leader. Ambedkar by nature was a liberal. He stressed on parliamentary democracy and state socialism. Ambedkar proved to be a great statesman besides being a fearless intellectual.

He tried to liberate Indian politics from parochialism, traditionalism and theology. He gave India its legal frame and the people the basic of their freedom. His name will figure prominently in any history of socio-political and constitutional evolution of India during the final phase of the British rule which ended with the ushuring in of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India.

Ambedkar asked Bhaurao Gaekwad to suspend the struggle for Mahar Watan Bill, because he thought it antagonished the touchables. He emphasised that this struggle would jeopardise the interest of the Mahar community. The way to court jail was regarded by him as useless as it kept them in jails, without any action. He asked his followers to discard satyagraha as a weapon. He emphatically urged to place the demands of the Scheduled Castes before the Government, and asked them to take care that the movement should not be turned into a mass satyagraha.

Ambedkar adopted the following principles in his political thinking; reconginition of the practival force of nationlism; crusade for social , economic and political freedom in terms of liberty and political freedom in terms of lliberty, equlity and fraternity; a dislike of any type of imperialism-political,social,economic or religious; a commitment to constitution al methods as the only way,a detestation of violence and love of justice ans peace;a bias for democratic dynamism;a humanism which sees man as the maker of civilization and culture and as having the potentiality to rise on the basis of love and knowledge.