The Opposition Congress on Tuesday sought to embarrass the ruling BJP by performing a symbolic “bhoomi puja” for the proposed memorial for late BR Ambedkar at the defunct Indu Mill compound here, in protest against the Maharashtra Government’s failure to kick-start the Ambedkar memorial project on the occasion 124th birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian Constitution.
State Congress president Ashok Chavan and Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam performed a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony in the presence of senior State and city party leaders, including Rohidas Patil, and former MP Eknath Gaikwad. A sizeable number of Congress workers had turned up at the defunct Indu Mill compound for the event.
Talking to mediapersons after the symbolic function, Nirupam — who had taken the initiative to organise the event — said, “The State Government had promised to perform the bhoomi puja for the proposed memorial on the occasion late Dr Ambedkar’s birth anniversary today. However, the Maharashtra Government postponed the function at the moment because both Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are out of the country.
The last-minute cancellation is nothing but an insult to late Dr Ambedkar. We performed the bhoomi puja for the proposed memorial in protest against the BJP leaders’ scant respect for the architect of our Constitution”.
The closed Indu Mill compound is located right next to the Chaityabhoomi at Dadar Chowpatty, where late Dr Ambedkar was cremated a day after he passed away on December 6, 1956.
The significance of this year’s birth anniversary of late Dr Ambedkar should be seen in the light of the fact that the Centre had early this month completed the formality of transferring 12 acres of closed Indu Mill land — owned by the state-run National Textile Corporation (NTC) — for the proposed memorial.
The land was transferred on April 5 through a tripartite agreement signed among Union Textile Minister, Government of Maharashtra and National Textile Corporation in Delhi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Though the Chief Minister was keen on holding the ground-breaking ceremony for the proposed memorial on the occasion of the 124th birth anniversary of Dalit icon, he postponed the event as the Prime Minister was expected to away from the country on a three-nation tour on that day. Fadnavis is also currently away from the country. The “bhoomi puja” for the proposed Ambedkar memorial is expected at a later date.
Meanwhile, like every year, thousands of Dalits from all over Maharashtra turned out at the Chaityabhoomi on Tuesday and paid tributes to late Dr Ambedkar on the occasion of his 124th birth anniversary.
Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Tuesday visited Chaitya Bhoomi, the memorial of Bharat Ratna Dr Ambedkar and offered floral tributes on the occasion.