Nashik residents plan protest against Girish Mahajan over Ambedkar omission

Nashik: Many residents have decided to organise a Jan Akrosh Morcha on Feb 4 in Nashik against water resources department minister Girish Mahajan, who allegedly failed to mention Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar during his speech on Republic Day.According to Talha Shaikh, the city secretary of CPI, "Citizens have decided to protest against Mahajan and persuade govt to strip him of the ministership for his act of not mentioning Dr Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India, during a govt programme organised to celebrate Republic Day in Nashik."Shaikh said this was similar to the govt move to remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi from the MGNREGA, and rename the scheme.Shaikh said several meetings were held in the city, where it was decided that a morcha would be taken out from Nashik Road to Nashik city on Feb 4, and the preparations have already started."On Thursday, we presented our letter seeking permission for the morcha on Feb 4. Nashik residents have formed a group, ‘Amhi Bharatache Lok-Nashikkar', and we appeal to all citizens to join the morcha," he added.The morcha will start from Nashik Road after paying tributes to the statues of Dr Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and will culminate at the statue of Dr Ambedkar at CBS, at a distance of about 8km.