Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reignited the controversy over Sardar Patel’s legacy and accused the Congress of not following the Iron Man’s brand of secularism and using it merely for vote bank politics.
Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 182-metre high statue, Statue of Unity, at Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam site on Thursday, Modi hit back at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who called Sardar a “secular leader” and a “Congressman” during the inauguration of the renovated Sardar Patel National Memorial on Tuesday, in Ahmedabad.
“I congratulate the Prime Minister for calling a great leader like Sardar Patel secular. He worked to regain the lost glory of the Somnath Temple through its reconstruction. let’s give momentum to Sardar’s secularism,” said Modi.
“I met the Prime Minister. He said something very correct, I am proud of it. I respect the Prime Minister for saying Sardar Patel was a true secular leader. I want to say we need Patel’s kind of secularism and not vote bank politics,” said the Gujarat Chief Minister.
At the same time, taking on Singh for calling Sardar Patel a “Congressman,” Modi said: “Don’t try to bring great leaders like Sardar Patel within party limits. The ‘Iron Man of India’ had worked for the unity of the country. let’s not divide the legacy of a great leader like Sardar Patel.”
He struck a chord by asking the audience whether Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rana Pratap or Chhatrapati Shivaji belonged to the Bharatiya Janata PartyIJ
When the crowd roared “No,” he said: “Just like Sardar Patel, they also lived and died for the country. We need to understand that the nation is bigger than political parties. If we link Sardar with a particular party, it would be the biggest injustice to the architect of united India.”
Terming the ceremony conducted on the bank of the River Narmada a historic event, Modi said that it was Sardar’s dream to build a dam on Narmada to quench the thirst of people of Gujarat and Rajasthan. “This is a fitting tribute to him on his 138th birth anniversary.”
Modi said that from the time Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation of the Narmada Dam project decades ago, many Governments had come and gone, but his Government had spent maximum money in the last decade in its bid to complete the project as early as possible.
“My Government is trying to execute Sardar’s dream. Because of the work done on the dam site, the economic condition of Kutch changed for the better,” he said adding that “BJP workers and even Congressmen from Rajasthan often thank me for supplying Narmada water.”
Responding to his critics who have accused Modi of spending State money on the statue project, he said that China created Shanghai, Japan developed the bullet train, likewise India should also position itself on the global platform. Comparing Sardar with Chanakya, he said let the world come to know through the tallest statue on the planet, how Sardar Patel had shown a new direction to the world by merging 565 erstwhile princely states into a united India.
Blaming the Congress for not coming out of the shadow of slavery even after years of freedom, Modi said that British rulers used to announce the Budget in the evening to match the timing with their country’s Parliament. Congress-ruled Governments never tried to break that tradition. It was the Vajpayee Government which started giving the Budget in the morning.
“The world used to take India for granted. But after the nuclear test conducted during the BJP Government, suddenly the world started looking at the nation with respect,” he said.
Advani pat’s Modi for conceptualizing project
Former Deputy Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader lK Advani once again endorsed Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate during the function. Advani, who was the chief guest, said that he felt happy and proud to be at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the world’s tallest statue of a truly patriotic leader. “I congratulate our prime ministerial candidate for conceptualizing the project,” said Advani adding that if Sardar wasn’t given the responsibility to merging the erstwhile princely states India might have been divided into multiple pieces.”