The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said that the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel planned in Gujarat (Statue of Unity) was a drive towards patriotism and would unite the country.
Addressing a State-level meet at the party State headquarters here, BJP Kishan Morcha national president and “Statue of Unity” national coordinator Om Prakash Dhanka stated that the ruling Congress party had always honoured only one family after the Independence.
“It was unfortunate that the Congress which ruled the country for several decades paid no proper respect to the leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose, Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel even if their sacrifice and contribution to the freedom movement was well-known, he said.
“It was to heal this pain and to pay them the right respects, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi decided to build world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,” he added. The State coordinator of lauh Sangrahan Sahyog Samiti coordinator Sachidanand Upasane said an organisation called CAG (Citizens for Accountable Governance), a partner of the Statue of Unity movement is helping to build this monument.
CAG representatives Himanshu Bhatia and Astha who also addressed the meeting in their address said as a part of the campaign an essay competition on the contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is being organised across the country. More than three lakh students across the country would participate in the competition and about Rs 2.5 crore award would be given in such competitions.
Narendra Modi himself would write to the heads of all the schools, they said. The 600 feet tall Statue of Unity will be built in an island in the middle of the Narmada River near Bharuch in Gujarat. The statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel will have a total height from the base will be 240 metres, which includes base level of 58 metre.
Patel is also better known as Iron Man of India. The statue is the dream project of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP PrimeMminister in waiting Narendra Modi. The BJP and its affiliated organisations have been collecting iron and sand from the farmers from all parts of the country. From each and every village, a part of iron will be collected, whose weight will not be more than 1 kg, so that it won’t be burden on the farmers.
The aim of the statue is to symbolise the unity of the people and will be a collective tribute to Patel. The others who attended the state level meet include state coordinator Ramesh Bais, state general secretary (organisation) Ram Pratap Singh and former ministers- Nanki Ram Kanwar and Chandrasekhar Sahu.