Dattatreya Bapurao Thengadi was born in
Arvi,
Wardha,
Maharashtra on 10 November 1920. He studied law at Law College in
Nagpur. He finished his post-graduation from Morris College and LLB from Law College in Nagpur. He was a lawyer as well as a
philosopher, and displayed an early talent for administration. At the age of 15, he served as president of the "Vanar Sena" as well as the Municipal High School
student union at Arvi. He became a full-time
pracharak in 1942. He worked as organizing secretary of the
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) from 1950–51, and was associated with the Postal & Railway Workers Union. He was organising secretary of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh for Madhya Pradesh (1952–53) and South India (1956–57). He was influenced by
Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar. Some of his other influences are
Babasaheb Ambedkar and
Deendayal Upadhyaya. ==Organisations==