Pratibha Patil, Manmohan Singh pay tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar

President Pratibha Patil along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice President, M Hamid Ansari here on Monday paid their respects to Dr B R Ambedkar on his 54th death anniversary.

The father of the Indian constitution was offered floral tributes at his statue Sansad Bhavan Lawns in the Parliament House complex this morning.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and a number of cabinet ministers also offered tributes to the scholar who spent most of his life fighting untouchability and the Indian caste system.

Ambedkar, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1990, was a jurist, political leader, scholar, and a Buddhist revivalist.

United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Oppostion in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and the Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit also paid floral tributes to Dr. Ambedkar.