Mysuru:  Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s 134th Jayanti was celebrated by garlanding the statue of Dr. Ambedkar near the Town Hall here this morning, under the joint aegis of the District Administration, Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and Social Welfare Department.

MLCs C.N. Manjegowda & Dr. D. Thimmaiah, Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, Additional DC Dr. P. Shivaraju, City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar and others were present on the occasion.

As part of the celebrations, a grand procession accompanied by a tableau of Dr. Ambedkar’s statue and messages, along with folk troupes, passed through Chamaraja Circle, K.R. Circle, Devaraja Urs Road, Vinoba Road and reached Kalamandira where a stage programme was held.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891- 6 December 1956) was a jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader, who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on the debates of the Constituent Assembly of India and the first draft of Sir Benegal Narsing Rau.

Dr. Ambedkar served as Law and Justice Minister in the first Cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. He later renounced Hinduism, converted to Buddhism and inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement.

At Ashokapuram

Marking Dr. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary celebrations, a festive atmosphere was in the air at Ashokapuram with many statues and posters of Dr. Ambedkar put up across the area.

Dr. Ambedkar’s statue at Ambedkar Park was garlanded in the presence of BJP SC Morcha President V. Shailendra, MP Yaduveer Wadiyar, City BJP President L. Nagendra, MLA T.S. Srivatsa, retd. Professor Phaneesh, former Mayors Sandesh Swamy & Shivakumar, BJP leaders Anjan Kumar, Amit Raju and Lingaraju.

Speaking on the occasion, Yaduveer Wadiyar recalled the contributions of Dr. Ambedkar to the society.

Later, a tableau with the statues of Dr. Ambedkar, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Buddha was taken to Kalamandira through JLB Road after going around in Ashokapuram.