DRAWING ATTENTION: Baththaiah staging a dharna blind-folded in front of Ambedkar's statue near Tirupati on Friday.,

TIRUPATI: A Scheduled Tribe sarpanch of the Gudimallam village panchayat, Baththaiah, launched a unique protest at the Ambedkar statue to protest against the setting aside of his election by a court on the ground that his name figured in the voters list of two different villages.

Sitting blind-folded, Baththaiah whose election last year as sarpanch of one of the oldest panchayat in the district created history of the sorts, chose the 116th brith anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar to give vent to his feelings against what he bemoans as `social injustice' done to an illiterate tribal

His wife was also elected as a ward member of the same panchayat -- thanks to the intervention by the SC/ST panels and Left and democratic parties.

But his election is now said to have been set aside by the court on the ground that his name is found in the voters' list of two different villages. The village elders reportedly filed the petition challenging his election.

Babasaheb remembered

Meanwhile, the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar was celebrated by Dalits and pro-Dalit organisations. At a programme organised at the Ambedkar's Statue here by the Tirupati unit of the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes Welfare Association, Dalit leaders and cadres took a pledge to work for the eradication of caste discrimination and also for upholding the cause of the marginalised sections to perpetuate Ambedkar's memory.

Besides Dalits, other prominent dignitaries also profusely garlanded Ambedkar's statue and addressed the gathering.

At a meeting held in the evening at Ambedkar Bhavan, speakers expressed concern over the increasing physical, social and economic atrocities on the oppressed classes and pledged to rededicate themselves to fight for their rightful share and place in the socio-political field.

Tirupati municipality also observed the day with solemnity and paid tributes to the author of the Constitution.

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