In 1980, he was briefly incarcerated in Tikamgarh Jail where he began writing his second book, "Truth and Social Reform". During the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, his organization was also burned down. From 1984 to 1987, Mangalwadi was the honorary director of TRACI and published "Truth and Social Reform". In 1984, he was appointed the Convenor of the Peasant's Commission of the Janata Party. In 1987, he initiated a national movement against the revival of "sati".