Nitin Gadkari visits Deekshabhoomi, pays homage to Babasaheb Ambedkar

New Delhi [India], March 30 : Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday visited Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur to pay respects to Mahatma Buddha and Babasaheb Ambedkar, who embraced Buddhism with thousands of his followers here in 1956.
He accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
"Visited Deekshabhoomi today with PM Narendra Modi and paid homage to Lord Gautam Buddha and Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar," Gadkari posted on X.
Gadkari also paid homage to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Golwalkar.
"In the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the most revered Sarsanghchalak Mohanrao Bhagwat, today at the Hedgewar Smriti Mandir, I paid homage to the memory of the most revered first Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and the second Sarsanghchalak, the most revered Golwalkar Guruji," he said.
This comes as Prime Minister Modi visited Nagpur today and paid floral tribute to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar at Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh in Nagpur. Prime Minister Modi signed the visitor's book after paying tribute to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar at RSS' Smruti Mandir in Nagpur.
The signed text reads, "My heartfelt regards to the most revered Hedgewar Ji and revered Guruji. I am overwhelmed to be here in this Smruti Mandir, cherishing their memories. This place dedicated to Indian culture, nationalism and the values of the organisation inspires us to move ahead in the service of the nation. This place of these two strong pillars of the Sangh is a source of energy for lakhs of volunteers dedicated to the service of the country. May the glory of Maa Aarti always increase with our efforts."
During his visit to Smruti Mandir, PM Modi was accompanied by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also paid tribute to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
At around 12:30 pm, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Loitering Munition Testing Range and Runway facility for UAVs at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Nagpur. He will inaugurate the newly built 1250m long and 25m wide airstrip for Unarmed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the live munition and warhead testing facility to test the Loitering Munition and other guided munitions.
"Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone of Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre, a new extension building of Madhav Netralaya Eye Institute & Research Centre. Established in 2014, it is a premier super-speciality ophthalmic care facility located in Nagpur," the PMO said.
RSS ideologue Ashutosh Adoni described Prime Minister Modi's visit to Nagpur on March 30 as "very important and historic." He expressed that the PM's visit to the Smruti Mandir and his stay in Nagpur would mark a historic moment.
Speaking to ANI, Adoni said, "This is a very important and historic visit. It is historic because a volunteer, who is today in the post of Prime Minister of India, is coming to Smriti Mandir on such a special day, which is considered an important day in the entire journey of the Sangh."
RSS member Seshadri Chari said this would be the first time PM Modi visited Smruti Mandir after becoming the Prime Minister.
"This will be the first time he will be going there after becoming the PM, and this is a very important and historic visit. This is a celebration of 100 years of RSS. There will be a lot of programs on it. Sangh also has a lot of opinions on the issues of the country, and on those, the PM will take those issues forward, as he has been doing before too. The government's job is to make India a strong country, make it a Viksit Bharat," RSS' Chari said.
The Prime Minister will also visit Chhattisgarh today to lay the foundation stone for multiple development projects.
"In Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone, initiate commencement of work and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects related to power, oil and gas, rail, road, education and housing sectors worth over Rs 33,700 crore in Bilaspur," the release read.