As the Minister of Law in the First Nehru ministry, Ambedkar lived at the official residences in India's national capital Delhi, first 22 Prithviraj Road and then 1 Hardinge Avenue.

[3] Ambedkar's assistant Nanak Chand Rattu visited 26 Alipur Road every evening, and typed several of his works there during 1951-1956.

Amebdkar's surviving papers ultimately came in the possession of the Government of Maharashtra, and were later published as part of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches (BAWS) series.

[6] At the time of Ambedkar's birth centenary in 1991, Ambedkarites demanded that the government acquire the house to build a memorial.

More than a decade later, in 2003, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government purchased the site to build a memorial.

[5] Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee laid the foundation of the "Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar Parinirvan Sthal" at the site, planning to build a memorial and a museum.

He conceived the site as a "pilgrimage where people from home and abroad would come to seek inspiration and learn how to eradicate social injustice.

[5] In 2012, journalist Neha Bhatt of Outlook described the building as neglected: it had untended grounds, no fans, and no drinking water.

[5] After BJP returned to power in 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government announced plans to build a new memorial at the site.

Modi accused the previous Congress-led government of closing the files related to Vajpayee's project, and delaying the construction of the new memorial for several years.