Statue foundation: Advani gets invite for Modi event

Modi is likely to address a gathering of over 20,000 people.

BJP patriarch and former deputy prime minister L K Advani is the surprise guest invitee to the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Statue of Unity at Kevadia,Chief Minister and BJPs PM candidate Narendra Modis pet project to be built as a tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The last time Modi and Advani were together,after the former was named the PM candidate,was on October 16 at the inauguration of the Sabarmati Riverfront garden.

Incidentally,the name missing from the invitation card for the grand event in the tribal district of Narmada is that of Cabinet minister for agriculture and water supply Babu Bokhiria,who has recently faced injunctions from the Gujarat High Court over encroachments.

Modi is expected to address a gathering of over 20,000 people at a school campus in Kevadia at 11 am,following which he will go to a spot on the bank of the Narmada river near Sadhu Tekri where he will perform the groundbreaking puja at an auspicious time of 12.39 pm. October 31 is the 138th birth anniversary of Indias first Home Minister Sardar Patel.

The other invitees to the event Nitin Patel,Anandi Patel,Saurabh Patel,Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Ganpat Vasava will also accompany him to the puja ceremony. Tribal MP Mansukh Vasava has been invited as a special guest.

Modi will also inaugurate the work to build the Garudeshwar Weir which will ensure water around the Sadhu Bet where the Sardar Patel statue is expected to come up. This will support boating and other tourism-related activity.

Police said tight security arrangements had been made for the event,but refused to divulge more details. After the Patna incident,we have taken all precautionary measures, Narmada SP Pravin Mall said.

Statue of Unity now named Statue of Honour

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GANDHINAGAR: The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust SVPRET,formed to execute the Rs 2,500-crore Statue of Unity project under the chairmanship of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,has decided to call the project Statue of Honour. The declaration came on the SVPRETs revamped official website just a day before Modi was to share the dais with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who inaugurated the Sardar Patel museum in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The homepage had a Google map image showing the exact location of the proposed statue with an added name tag that said Statue of Honour. The homepage also has a message by Modi declaring that he was ready to become the foundation for the coming century. The Gujarat government on Wednesday released images,aerial view and 3-dimensional model of the statue. ENS