PM Narendra Modi pays tribute to Patel, attacks Congress; says enemies trying to break unity

KEVADIYA/THARAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that India’s enemies were trying to break its unity and that the country should stand firm against them.
The PM’s comments came after paying tribute to India’s first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on his birth anniversary, observed as “Rashtriya Ekta Diwas”, at the Statue of Unity (SoU) in Kevadiya, Narmada district.
Later in the day, PM targeted Congress over Patel’s photo not featuring in advertisements in newspapers given by the party-led government in Rajasthan and advised its leaders to first connect with the man who unified India.
In Kevadiya, Modi said that for India, its unity has never been a compulsion but its uniqueness. “This unity of our country has been an eyesore for our enemies. Not just today, but from thousands of years, and even during the period of our slavery, all foreign attackers did whatever they wanted to do to break this unity,” he said. “The poison, which was spread in that long period, the country is facing problems due to it today too. We saw the country’s Partition and enemies taking advantage of it,” Modi said.
“Those forces are still prevalent, they want to make the people of the country fight in the name of caste, region and language,” he said.
“We have to answer as the sons of this country. We have to remain one,” Modi said.
Speaking at a function at Tharad in Banaskantha, the PM said, “Congress has given full-page advertisements in at least two dailies of the state. Today is the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. In the advertisements, there is not even a small photo of Sardar Patel. He was a big leader of the country, the Congress, and deputy PM in the government of your Jawaharlal Nehru.”
The PM’s attack on Congress comes at a time when Rahul Gandhi is undertaking the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” and its senior politician, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, is in Gujarat campaigning for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
“And then you say you will unite everybody,” he said.
He added, “What problem do you have with Sardar Patel? Gujarat will never tolerate an insult to Sardar saheb. Congress does not care. Imagine how much hatred must be in their minds.”