Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a befitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi by inaugurating the 182-metre-tall Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kevadiya Colony, developing five places associated with B R Ambedkar, and also by renaming some islands of Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. Addressing a public meeting to mark the culmination of a padyatra taken out to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at Sanasoara village in Bhavnagar district, Rupani said: “The PM (Modi) had paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, by unveiling projects related to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, B R Ambedkar and Vir Savarkar. Rupani also said that to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the state government was running a number of schemes for the poor and the downtrodden, along with taking up cleanliness drive. PM Modi, who also addressed the gathering at the concluding ceremony of the march organised by Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya through video conference, said that the sense of duty among people before Independence has now turned into a sense of entitlement. Modi urged citizens as well as social and political leaders to draw inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and take up the cause of cleanliness as a mass movement. “Mahatma Gandhi always stressed on duty. However, after Independence, this sense of duty turned into a sense of entitlement. For the development of our country, we need both of them today,” the PM said. Gandhi created a mass movement, which was instrumental in getting independence, he noted. “Our cleanliness drive became successful due to the people's participation. The government alone could not have done that,” he said.
