New Delhi/Lucknow/Mumbai, April 14: Hailing BR Ambedkar’s contributions to the country’s progress, leaders from across political parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday paid tributes to the key architect of India’s Constitution on his 131st birth anniversary.
Prime Minister Modi said Babasaheb Ambedkar’s ideas for the welfare of Dalits, the downtrodden and deprived sections of society are an inspiration for his government. Modi joined a host of dignitaries, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, in Parliament to pay floral tributes to Ambedkar.
“Tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his Jayanti. He has made indelible contributions to India’s progress. This is a day to reiterate our commitment to fulfil his dreams for our nation,” Modi tweeted. Born in Maharashtra in a Dalit family in 1891, Ambedkar was a jurist and economist who played an important role in India’s freedom movement. The India’s first law minister championed the cause of the Dalit community which faced deep-rooted discrimination. Former Congress chief Gandhi said Dr Ambedkar gave India its strongest pillar of strength – the Constitution. “On the occasion of his 131st birth anniversary, my tributes to Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar, who gave India its strongest pillar of strength — our sacred Constitution,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
On its official Twitter handle, the Congress said Babasaheb Ambedkar remains a champion of equality, human rights and social justice. After paying tributes to B R Ambedkar, Vice President Naidu said he was the voice of the socially oppressed and dedicated his life to the uplift of the marginalised sections of society. “My humble tributes to the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary today. Babasaheb was a multi-faceted genius – a legal luminary, visionary statesman, outstanding constitutional expert, brilliant parliamentarian & social reformer,” the Vice President Secretariat tweeted, quoting Naidu. (PTI)