New Delhi: BJP President JP Nadda alleged that the Congress party tried to erase Sardar Patel from history and even questioned the cost and necessity of the Statue of Unity, built by the Modi government as a memorial to Sardar Patel.
According to media reports, Nadda, while addressing a gathering during the “Sardar at the Rate of 150 Unity March” in Ataldara village, said that the Congress party did not want Sardar Patel to be remembered. He said that the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, allowed the Kashmir issue to fester through his policies, while Sardar Patel successfully integrated 562 princely states into the country after independence.
Nadda alleged that the Congress party worked to ensure that the name of India’s Iron Man is not etched in the pages of history. He said that Sardar Patel died in 1950, but was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1991. He said that PM Modi truly remembered and paid tribute to Sardar Patel, but when Modi decided to build the world’s tallest ‘Statue of Unity’ in Gujarat’s Narmada district as a tribute to Patel, the Congress questioned its cost.
Nadda said that the Congress asked why so much money was being spent, and when the 182-meter-tall statue of Sardar Patel was installed, the Congress questioned what would be achieved. Nadda said that Sardar Patel had unified 562 princely states, while the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said that he would take a decision on Jammu and Kashmir. Nadda said, “And what decision did Nehruji take? Article 370 became a major threat to the unity and integrity of the country.”
