Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the iconic Statue of Unity in Gujarat on the birth anniversary of the country’s first home minister. To mark the 10th National Unity Day, the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Amit Shah flagged off the ‘Run for Unity’ organized in New Delhi.
National Unity Day 2024
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- Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the iconic Statue of Unity in Gujarat on the birth anniversary of the country’s first home minister.
10th National Unity Day
- To mark the 10th National Unity Day, the Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, Amit Shah flagged off the ‘Run for Unity’ organized in New Delhi.
- Initiated as a call for solidarity in 2015, the Run for Unity symbolizes a pledge not only for national cohesion but also for a progressive, developed India, embodying the vision of a united and prosperous future.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various infrastructural and development projects worth over Rs 280 crore in Ekta Nagar (Kevadia), situated in the Narmada district of Gujarat.
- These projects aim to enhance the tourist experience, improve accessibility and support sustainability initiatives. The programme also featured an Indian Air Force flypast following a floral tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Every year, on October 31, India observes National Unity Day, also known as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. This significant day commemorates the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a pivotal figure in India’s struggle for independence and the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.
- Renowned for his exceptional leadership and unyielding commitment to national integration, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is fondly remembered as the “Iron Man of India.”
- National Unity Day serves as a reminder of his efforts to unite the diverse princely states into a single nation and fosters a spirit of solidarity among the people of India.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born on 31st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat. A successful lawyer by profession, his life encountered a turning point when Mahatma Gandhi chose him as his deputy commander to lead the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918.
- Thus, as the leader of a peasants’ protest, he found the trajectory of his life turning towards a path of public service.
- In 1924, he was elected President of the Ahmedabad Municipal Board. Taking charge, he revamped the drainage, sanitation, cleanliness and water distribution systems of Ahmedabad.
- To their sheer awe, the citizens witnessed the President of the Board taking up a broom and dust cart himself, and cleaning the Harijan quarter of the city. In him, the city of Ahmedabad found a new hero.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became increasingly involved with the struggle for independence. It was his role in the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 that elevated him to a new pinnacle of national glory. The peasant movement that became a subject of great discussion across the nation demonstrated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s organizational capacity and enthusiasm for tireless action. It was here that he earned the title of ‘Sardar’, the fond epithet by which he continues to be remembered and revered.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel went on to become one of the foremost pillars of the national struggle for freedom.
- At the time of Independence, India consisted of British India and the Princely States. There were 17 British Indian provinces, and the Princely States- comprising about two fifths of the geographic territory of the country- numbered more than 560. While the Indian Independence Act ceded control of British India to the Indian Government, rulers of the Princely States were given the option to decide whether they wanted to accede to India or Pakistan or neither.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stepped in to ensure the accession of the princely states and integrate them into the Union of India. On 15 August 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel took oath as the first Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the first Home Minister of independent India. He also took charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
Statue of Unity
- October 31st, 2018, marked the inauguration of the world’s tallest statue – the Statue of Unity, against the backdrop of the breathtaking Satpura and Vindhyachal hills at Kevadia, Gujarat.
- The 182-metre (600 feet approx.) statue is dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the architect of independent India. The colossal monument towers over River Narmada & overlooks the vast surrounds and the river basin of the Narmada River and the sprawling Sardar Sarovar dam. It stands on the Sadhu Bet hillock, connected by a 300-metre bridge, which offers access from the mainland to the statue.
