PATNA: Union Home minister Amit Shah, while addressing a press conference in Patna on Thursday, announced the plan chalked out by the Centre on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, 2025, commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Shah pointed out the monumental role played by Sardar Patel in the integration of India after Independence and called him the architect of modern India.
He said that every year since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Kevadia on October 31 and paid tribute to Sardar Patel at the Statue of Unity, where a grand parade is organised.
He announced that, marking the 150th anniversary year, the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to conduct a grand parade every year on October 31 in honour of Sardar Patel’s memory, on the lines of the Republic Day parade.
The Home minister said the parade would be a tribute to the country’s CAPFs and state police forces, representing the unity and integrity of the nation. The event will be held in front of the Statue of Unity—a permanent tribute to Sardar Patel’s vision for a united India.
He also announced that a 15-day cultural festival, Bharat Parv, will be held at Ekta Nagar from November 1 to 15. The event will culminate on November 15, the birth anniversary of tribal leader Bhagwan Birsa Munda, with a grand celebration of tribal culture featuring exhibitions of traditional crafts, costumes, music, and cuisine.
He said Patel’s leadership and determination, right from leading the Bardoli Satyagraha to the integration of 562 princely states after Independence, shaped the map of modern India. Shah also recalled the decisive actions taken by Patel in Hyderabad, Junagadh, and other princely states, and the role he played to ensure Lakshadweep became part of India on Independence Day in 1947.
Shah also criticised previous governments for negligence regarding Patel’s contribution to the nation, adding that he was given Bharat Ratna after 41 years, but there were no memorials built in his name until Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, initiated the Statue of Unity project.