Thaindian News

Nagpur, Dec 20 (IANS) Grabbing the initiative from the opposition, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Tuesday demanded that the central government hand over a mill premises in Mumbai “free of cost” to the state for constructing a memorial to Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar.

A resolution to the effect, moved by Chavan, was unanimously passed in both houses of the legislature here, catching the belligerent opposition unawares.

“We have demanded that the centre should hand over the entire 12.5 acres of land of Indu Mills, currently in possession of the National Textiles Corporation, free of cost to the state government,” Chavan said.

This would pave the way for the state government to erect a grand memorial to Ambedkar on the site, located near Chaityabhoomi in Dadar west, where his last rites were performed.

The Indu Mills land has been virtually taken over by hundreds of activists of the Dalit party Republican Sena since Dec 6, Ambedkar’s death anniversary.

Led by Anandraj Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar who is revered as the Father of the Indian constitution, they have vowed not to move out of the premises until the land is allotted for the memorial.

The developments made Chavan rush to New Delhi last week and urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to initiate steps to allot the land for the memorial, even as all opposition parties came out in support of the Dalit parties.

The issue has also figured prominently in the state legislature, currently in its winter session here.

Chavan’s move comes in the wake of the recently concluded civic bodies elections around the state in which its partner in the ruling Congress-led coalition, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), emerged as the biggest vote-catcher.

Elections to top civic corporations like Mumbai, Thane and Pune, among others, are scheduled around February 2012.