Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited Mhow, the birth place of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution, and paid rich floral tributes at the grand memorial of the Dalit icon.
Tuesdat marks the centenary of Ambedkar’s graduation from ColumbiaUniversity in the USA.
Rahul’s visit to Mhow, the birthplace of Ambedkar, on Tuesday flags off Congress’s year-round celebrations of the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar with the exercise being seen as an attempt by it to reach out to the Dalit community.
Mhow, earlier known as Military Head Quarter of War, was in 2003 rechristened as Dr Ambedkar Nagar.
Soon after landing in Indore, Rahul drove to this cantonment town where the memorial to Ambedkar is located.
The Congress vice president was accompanied by party General Secretary Digvijay Singh and former Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde among other leaders.
Rahul’s outreach campaign includes addressing a public meeting and interaction with Dalit leaders and activists later in the day. Congress has drawn up plans to organise a series of functions to pay tribute to the contributions of Ambedkar on his 125th anniversary.
After paying tributes at the statue of Ambedkar memorial in Kali Paltan area, Rahul meditated for nearly five minutes. He also had a close look at the Dalit icon’s photos displayed at the memorial.
Rahul’s visit is seen as part of his extensive countrywide drive to reach out to different sections of society, especially the less privileged.
Apart from mounting a high voltage campaign on agrarian crisis and targeting the Narendra Modi government over the land bill, Rahul recently visited a coastal village in Kerala where he called for solutions to problems faced by fishermen.
Photographs: @officeofRG/Twitter
