BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday inaugurated a memorial of ‘Rebel Star’ Ambareesh at Kanteerava Studios and also the renaming of Race Course Road after the actor on Monday.
The CM launched ‘Suraksha 75 Mission 2023’ to make traffic junctions safer for pedestrians and at the same time, announced the renaming of Race Course Road under Shivajinagar Assembly constituency as Ambareesh Road.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai addressed the gathering after the renaming of the road and said, “Today, we have named Race Course Road as Ambareesh Road in memory of the late actor and politician Ambareesh who was upright and persistent, who won the hearts of the people of Karnataka. Race Course Road is the most visited place by Ambareesh. Today, we named this road at the insistence of all the fans. He had a personality with many talents and used to act naturally in movies. He had the personality to hold people together. There was no difference between reel life and real life for him. He was a straight-talking personality and was also talented in sports.”
“After entering public life, he has done a very good job as Housing Minister. Ambareesh was strong when it came to the Cauvery issue. He never went after power, but power came after him. He had resigned from the post of Union Minister when the Cauvery issue came up. I am very happy today as he was also my friend. Other than him, no one else’s name is suitable for this road. His family has agreed and has come. May his name live forever”, he added.
Many dignitaries including Sumalatha Ambareesh, Abhishek Ambareesh, Rockline Venkatesh, Raghavendra Rajkumar, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar participated in the programme.
After the inauguration of Race Course Road, CM Bommai inaugurated a memorial for Ambareesh, built at a cost of Rs 12 crore with a special design. A 32-feet-tall statue of Ambi was also inaugurated near the memorial. The memorial has been constructed on one-acre land.
“The fans nurtured Ambareesh with love for 10 years. This beautiful monument has been constructed under the grant of the Karnataka government. I kept telling the fans that this day will come soon. On this occasion, I would like to remember one person and that is former CM Yediyurappa. When we placed our demands before him, he readily agreed and started the construction of the monument. Ambarish never asked for anything for himself and he did not reach out to anyone,” said Sumalatha Ambareesh.
“He has given a hand, not taken away anything from someone. When he was a minister, they sent a vehicle with a red light siren. He said that it should first be removed. Everyone loved him when he was there. He used to say that love alone is enough and nothing else is needed. Ambareesh is now happy wherever he is. He was loved by all”, she added.