Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Mhow to pay tribute to BR Ambedkar

MHOW: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in a day-long visit here today visited the birth place of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution, and paid rich floral tributes at the grand memorial of the Dalit icon.

Today marks the centenary of Ambedkar's graduation from Columbia University in the USA.

Rahul's visit to Mhow, the birthplace of Ambedkar, today flags off Congress' year-round celebrations of the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar with the exercise being seen as an attempt by it to reach out to the Dalit community.

Mhow, earlier known as Military Head Quarter of War (Mhow), was in 2003 rechristened as Dr Ambedkar Nagar.

Soon after landing in Indore, Rahul drove to this cantonment town where the memorial to Ambedkar is located.

The Congress Vice President was accompanied by party General Secretary Digvijay Singh and former Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde among other leaders.

Rahul's outreach campaign includes addressing a public meeting and interaction with Dalit leaders and activists later in the day.

Congress has drawn up plans to organise a series of functions to pay tribute to the contributions of Ambedkar on his 125th anniversary.