Kewadiya, Gujarat:

Targeting the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said some powers are trying to weaken national unity for the sake of politics and called upon people to identify and fight against this “alliance of urban Naxals”. The Prime Minister was speaking on National Unity Day, which coincided with Diwali this time, near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s grand statue at Kewadiya in Gujarat.

“Countries are growing apart, but coming close to India. This is not ordinary, a new history is being written. The world is watching how India is resolving its issues. So we have to protect our unity,” he said, after paying tributes to Sardar Patel, who played a key role in national integration after India’s Independence in 1947.

“Some perverted powers are worried about India’s rise. Within India, and outside it, such people are trying to create instability and anarchy. They want the wrong message to go to global investors. These people are targeting the forces, running misinformation campaigns. They are trying to divide (people) in the name of caste. They aim to weaken India’s society and unity. They don’t want India to be developed because the politics of ‘poor India, weak India’ suits them. So they are breaking India in the name of the Constitution. We have to identify this alliance of Urban Naxals and fight against them,” the Prime Minister said.

While he did not explicitly name any Opposition party or leader, the reference was clear. The INDIA Opposition bloc, led by the Congress, built its Lok Sabha election campaign around a ‘save Constitution’ slogan and is demanding a caste Census to ensure better representation of backward classes in jobs and education. In this general election, the BJP led by Prime Minister Modi returned to power despite falling short of getting a majority on its own. 

The Prime Minister paid tribute to Sardar Patel and said the BJP government’s vision reflects its commitment to national unity. He said a ‘one nation, one tax’ system and abolished the Article 370 wall, revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

“The discriminatory policies and intent of previous governments weakened national unity. Over the past 10 years, the new governance model has eliminated discrimination. We have chosen the path of sabka saath sabka vikas. This approach has ended the dissatisfaction among people and enhanced their trust in development schemes,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said Aadhaar, which represents ‘one nation, one identity’, is being discussed globally. “We brought ‘one nation, one tax’ system through GST. We brought ‘one nation, one health insurance’ scheme through Ayushman Bharat. Now, we are working towards ‘one nation, one election’ that will strengthen democracy and optimise resources. India is also moving towards ‘one nation, one civil code’.”

The country, he said, is happy that after 70 years of Independence, a ‘one nation, one Constitution’ pledge has been fulfilled. “This is my biggest tribute to Sardar sahab. For 70 years, Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s Constitution was not implemented across the country. Those who chant the name of the Constitution insulted it so much. The reason was the wall of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 has been buried forever. For the first time, voting was done without discrimination in this Assembly election. For the first time, the Chief Minister there has taken oath on the Constitution of India. This scene must have given immense satisfaction to the makers of the Indian Constitution, their souls must have found peace and this is our humble tribute to the makers of the Constitution.”

The Prime Minister said this National Unity Day marks the beginning of Sardar Patel’s 150th birth anniversary and the country will celebrate this occasion for two years. 

“Unity is important for economic progress and our goal to become a developed nation. This unity is important for social harmony. If we are committed to social justice, unity is the pre-condition. Let us move forward together,” he said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat’s Narmada on the birth anniversary of the country’s first Home Minister, which is celebrated as National Unity Day.

The ‘Statue of Unity’, dedicated to Sardar Patel, was inaugurated here by PM Modi on October 31, 2018. The Prime Minister administered the oath of unity to the gathering at a function in Ekta Nagar (City of Unity), earlier known as Kevadia in Narmada district.

Here are some interesting details about the Statue of Unity:

Built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore, the statue depicts Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first Home Minister, wearing a traditional dhoti and shawl, towering over the Narmada River. Iron was collected from all over the country for the statue of Sardar Patel, also known as the Iron Man of India. At 182-metre, the statue is touted as the world’s tallest; it is 177 feet higher than China’s Spring Temple Buddha, currently the world’s tallest statue.

The statue has been designed by Padma Bhushan-winning sculptor Ram V Sutar and has been built by Larsen and Toubro and the state-run Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd. It took about 250 engineers and 3,400 labourers to construct the statue in 33 months.

The statue will have a viewing gallery at a height of 193 metres above sea level, which can accommodate 200 visitors at a time. This gallery, at 153 metres high, will offer a view of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, its reservoir, and the Satpura and Vindhya mountain ranges.

At the base of the statue, there is a museum and an exhibition hall dedicated to the life and achievements of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Visitors can learn about his role in India’s struggle for independence and the process of unifying the country.