In Gujarat, PM stresses on unity, targets Congress for ‘insulting’ Sardar Patel

“Enemies of India envy our unity. Since the times of colonial slavery, our unity has always pinched the enemies… we have to be very alert… There are (enemy) forces that still want to break us like in the past… They make narratives to make us fight over castes, regions and languages… But we have to give them an answer like the children of Bharat Maa, like Hindustanis. We have to remain united and one. We have to reply to the poison of division with the amrut of unity,” he said.

Stating that his government at the Centre had been following the “teachings of Sardar Patel” to have equal opportunities and benefits for all classes of the society, Modi said, “We are working for all people and ensuring that policies reach everyone… If AIIMS is in Delhi, it is also in other parts. If TN is getting a defence corridor, it is also coming up in Uttar Pradesh… we have to reach the last standing person and bring the person into the stream of development. For decades, people have waited for the most basic needs… Today, there is housing for all, digital connectivity for all, and clean cooking for all…”

Referring to an advertisement published in Gujarati newspapers Monday on behalf of the Congress government in Rajasthan that had “neither the name nor the photo of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary”, the Prime Minister asked if the grand old party was failing to connect itself with the leader.

“A full page advertisement of the Congress in two newspapers but not a single word on Sardar saheb… Sardar Patel was a senior Congress leader, the home minister in the Nehru government, and on his birth anniversary, you release an advertisement in Gujarat but no photo and Sardar Patel’s name. (If) the Congress cannot connect Sardar Patel with itself, what else can it connect?” asked Modi as he addressed public events in Banaskantha’s Tharad as well as in East Ahmedabad.

Modi termed it “an insult to Sardar Patel”. “It is an insult to the country. He was not from BJP, he was from Congress. But he lived for the country and departed while giving something to the country. We feel satisfied by making the world’s tallest statue (of Sardar Patel). We (BJP) feel proud. And they (Congress) are not ready to even take his name. Gujarat never forgives such things. And the country also does not forgive it,” he said in East Ahmedabad where he inaugurated a gauge conversion project of two railway lines—one connecting Asarva of Ahmedabad with Udaipur in Rajasthan and the other from Lunidhar station to Jetalsar in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. He also flagged off two trains on the two routes at the East Ahmedabad event. The gauge conversion project is nearly worth Rs 3,000 crore.

“A railway line without broad gauge is like an isolated island. Trains on these routes cannot go to other parts of the country. Similarly, trains from other states also cannot come here. From today, this entire route has been rejuvenated,” he said, highlighting how the conversion will bring in new opportunities of industrial growth and tourism.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of water projects worth Rs 8,034 crore in Tharad, Banaskantha. He said the water projects will benefit nearly six districts, including Meshana, Patan and Banaskantha, more than 1,000 villages and more than 2 lakh hectare land will be irrigated.

To end the confusion of farmers confused over the disparity of fertiliser prices, the PM said there will be only one fertiliser under the name ‘Bharat’. “A bag of fertiliser the government imports costs more than Rs 2,000. Today, it is very expensive due to Covid and the (Russia-Ukraine) war, (yet) we give it to the farmers for only Rs 260 so that farmers get good produce,” Modi said during his second visit to Banaskantha within a month.

Stating that Banaskantha is writing a new story of development, he asserted that water from the Narmada river will be delivered to areas of high altitude, including Vav, Suigam and Kankrej, and reservoirs like Mukteshwar Dam and Karamawat were filled so that the water problem of these areas is solved permanently.

In Kevadia, Modi also urged the countrymen to learn about the contributions of the tribal communities in the freedom struggle. “In the past eight years, the country has given importance to all those communities that have been oppressed for many years… Tomorrow, I will go to Mangarh and Jambughoda. It is my request to people of India to learn about the story of Mangarh and Jambughoda that suffered massacres from foreigners. We will then be able to value our freedom,” Modi said.

The PM, who inaugurated a Miyawaki forest in Ekta Nagar Sunday evening, said the town would be a “model” in many ways in the years to come. He also announced that a museum for the princely states of India would be built near the Statue of Unity to “showcase the sacrifice” of India’s royalty in uniting the nation. “For several years since independence, the royal families have faced neglect. Now, their efforts will be recognised and showcased as an example of valour in a museum dedicated to the princely states of India…”