Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded that Babasaheb Ambedkar's residence at 26, Alipur Road in Delhi be converted into a National Memorial.
As Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi has been given a special status under the Rajghat Samadhi Act, 1951, the Ambedkar memorial should also be accorded special status, Sukhbir said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"As you would know Punjab has the largest population of Dalits in the country and there is a demand from this section that Babasaheb's residence at 26 Alipur Road, Delhi be converted into national memorial," the deputy CM wrote.
According to a release here, Sukhbir told the Prime Minister there was feeling among followers of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, that their esteem leader is being denied a memorial befitting his status.
Claiming that the erstwhile Congress government ignored the demands of Dalits for a memorial, the SAD president said he hoped that the NDA government would take up the matter.
Sukhbir said his Shiromani Akali Dal joins the people of Punjab as well as the country to demand a special status for Babasaheb's residence.
He said SAD will organise a function at the residence tomorrow on the birth anniversary of Ambedkar.
