The RPI (Republican Party of India) was founded by Ambedkar's chosen lieutenants on Oct 3, 1957, -- 10 months after his death and a year after he embraced Buddhism along with thousands of his scheduled caste followers. An estimated 700,000 people had attended the foundation ceremony at Nagpur's Deeksha Bhoomi.
The party was formed as per the blueprint that the Dalit icon had handed down to his political heirs, days before his death on Dec 6, 1956. Ambedkar's mandate was to set up a broad-based version of two parties he had earlier launched -- the Labour Party in 1936 and the Scheduled Caste Federation in 1942.
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