Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attacked the Congress and its `Bharat Jodo Yatra’ saying the Opposition party wants to unite the country, but cannot give Sardar Patel’s photo in advertisements on his birth anniversary. “The people of Gujarat will not tolerate this insult,” he said addressing a rally at Banaskantha in Gujarat where he is on a three-day visit. He also addressed another rally in Kevadia to observe Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary and launched many developmental projects. Modi said that enemies were trying to break India’s unity and the country should stand firm against any such attempts.
October 31, the birth anniversary of Patel, the first Home Minister of the country, is observed as the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ or National Unity Day. Kevadia hosts the statue of Patel which is the tallest of all statues in the world.
Modi also remembered those who died in Sunday’s Morbi after a century-old suspension bridge over Machchu River snapped on Sunday evening. Modi turned emotional while speaking about the tragedy.
“I am in Ekta Nagar but my mind is with the victims of Morbi. Rarely in my life have I experienced such pain. On one hand, there is a pain-riddled heart and on the other hand, there is the path to duty,” he said.
All alertness is being observed even in the hospital where the injured are under treatment.
Priority is being given to ensure that people face minimum problems, he pointed out, adding that NDRF teams have been deployed in rescue operations other than teams from the Army and Air Force while assistance is also being provided to hospitals that are treating the injured.
In a veiled attack on the Congress, Modi said that they were pained by India’s unity “whenever they ruled over us. They are pained by our rise, trying to break the country on lines of caste, language, and race. Those trying to break our unity may not be just our open enemies, but can be someone from inside also.”
“Campaigns are run to make one Indian language an enemy of another Indian language. History is presented in a way that people don't get connected with each other but go away from each other instead,” he said.
Referring to the alleged sidelining of Patel by the Congress, Modi said, “Congress gave advertisements in dailies, you want to unite country, but cannot give Sardar Patel's photo in ads on his birth anniversary, people of Gujarat will not tolerate this insult.”
In another comment on the Congress leadership, he said, “Rajasthan CM wrote to me opposing the ‘Sujalam Suflam’ water canal scheme but I told him the project will go ahead as it will benefit people of north Gujarat.”
Commemorating the efforts of Patel in unifying and acceding to India the self-ruled princely States after India got independence from British rule, he said, “This occasion reminds us what would've happened had there not been a leadership like SardarPatel with India during Independence. What would've happened had over 550 princely States not become united. What would've happened had they not shown their dedication to Maa Bharti.”
He also lauded the erstwhile royal families who agreed to accede their States to India and said that a museum will be built in Ekta Nagar “dedicated to sacrifices of erstwhile royal families.”
“The (erstwhile) royal families, who ruled for centuries, dedicated their rights to a new system for the country's unity. This contribution was ignored for decades after Independence. A museum will be built in Ekta Nagar, dedicated to sacrifices of erstwhile royal families,” he said.
Modi said for India, its unity has never been a necessity, but has been its uniqueness.
“This unity of our country has been eyesore for our enemies. Not just today, but from thousands of years and even during the period of our slavery, all foreign attackers did whatever they wanted to do to break this unity,” he said.
"The poison that was spread in that long period, the country is facing problems due to it today also. We saw the country's partition and enemies taking benefit of it,” Modi said.
Those forces are still prevalent, they want to make people of the country fight in the name of caste, region, language, he said, adding that history is also presented in such a way that people cannot stand with each other.
“We have to answer them as the son of this country, we have to remain one,” Modi said.