Politicians pay tributes to Ambedkar in MP to mark his birth anniversary

A large number of people and politicians paid tributes to mark the 133rd birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at his birthplace Mhow in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Sunday.

MP's Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, leader of opposition in assembly Umang Singhar and local MLA Usha Thakur were among several politicians who also reached Mhow to commemorate the Constitution's chief architect.

They garlanded the bust of Dr Ambedkar amid slogans praising the Dalit icon before returning without holding any political rally or public meetings due to the imposition of the model code of conduct ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

A contingent of nearly 50 ex-servicemen, retired from the Mahar regiment of the Indian Army, gave a grand salute to Dr Ambedkar around 11.30 am.

The MP government had opened a memorial of Dr Ambedkar at Mhow, about 25 km from the district headquarters, on April 14, 2008.

Ambedkar Memorial Society secretary Rajesh Wankhede said the turnout on Sunday was less compared to earlier years and attributed it to the campaigning across the country ahead of the parliamentary polls.

Most people come to this place from Maharashtra's Vidarbha region. Prominent persons from there called to tell me about the lower turnout (this time). Due to the same reason, none of the political parties organised public meetings at Mhow this year. Leaders of various parties only paid their tributes, he said.