By IANS
Mumbai : New Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will be felicitated at a grand function here on May 27 to mark the 50th anniversary of Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar embracing Buddhism.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supreme supremo will be felicitated at a function at the Mahalaxmi Race Course here, said Ramdas Athawale, Republican Party of India (Athawale) president and Lok Sabha member, one of the main organisers of the event.
Several prominent personalities, including the Dalai Lama and Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, are also expected to attend the function.
With the Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled in 2009, the move is being seen by political observers as a consolidation of the Dalit vote bank.
In the last Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, the BSP increased its vote share in the Vidarbha region.