Invoking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s work for national integration on his 140th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Patel never promoted any family member in politics. Modi also used the occasion to take a dig at dynastic politics, saying it had become a bane of our politics and recalled that Patel never promoted any family member in political life. At the beginning of his speech, Modi also remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary on this day over three decades ago, saying she sacrificed her life on this day and it cannot be forgotten.
At the National Integration Day to mark the birth anniversary of India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, where Modi flagged off ‘run for unity’, the PM asked people to take forwards Patel’s message that the nation can sacrifice anything for its unity. “He was called Iron Man not because someone gave him a certificate. It was because of the decisions he had made with an iron grit,” Modi said.
“The country can’t forget the contributions of ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel towards the unity of our country. After Chanakya, it was Sardar Patel who strung India together,” Modi said before flagging off the ‘Run for Unity’ march in the national Capital. “Unity is our biggest strength... We have to move forward with the mantra of unity, peace and harmony,” he said, against the backdrop of protests by artistes, writers and scientists over alleged “rising intolerance” after the Dadri lynching, the beef row and similar incidents.
“If the country has to move forward and attain new heights of development, then the first guarantee is.... Irrespective of our language and attachment of our feelings and ideology to any inspiration or system from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Atak to Cuttuck, if our goal is to take Mother India to new heights in the world, then the first condition for that is unity, peace and harmony.
“If 125 crore Indians with the mantra of unity, peace and harmony walk one step together shoulder to shoulder, then the country will move 125 crore steps in one go. Our strength is a nation bound together by unity and which can sacrifice everything for unity and this is the message of Sardar sahab,” he said, recalling that Patel’s life was dedicated to national unity. The prime minister said while Patel worked to give us ‘ek Bharat’ (One India), it was now our duty to turn it into ‘shreshta’ (best) Bharat.
The prime minister also announced that ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ scheme will soon be launched under which one state will choose another state each year and then promote its language and culture.
“I have formed a small committee which is preparing its modalities,” he said.
While remembering former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary, Modi also stated that it was not for us to evaluate the works of great people but to remember their contributions and to seek inspiration for generations to come.
He said after philosopher and jurist Chanakya, Patel can be credited for consistently working for national integration. Addressing the event at Rajpath, he said while several people may claim credit for providing reservation to women, it was Sardar who proposed 50 per cent reservation for women in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation when he was the mayor of the city in the 1930s in a bid to empower them.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Delhi lt Governor Najeeb Jung and state Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were also seated on the dais.