The bitter rivalry between the Congress and the BJP over the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel spilled into the open Tuesday as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi crossed swords at their first joint public event since Modi was declared the BJPs prime ministerial candidate. The occasion was the inauguration of a renovated memorial for Patel and Modi was invited as a guest in his capacity as chief minister on a turf controlled largely by the Congress. But Modi spared no attempt to make his point. Is desh ko hamesha ek gila-shikva rahega,ek dard rahega. Har Hindustani ke dil me ek dard rahega. Kaash Sardar saab hamare pehle pradhan mantri hote,toh aaj desh ki taqdeer bhi alag hoti,desh ki tasveer bhi alag hoti (This country will always have one regret. Every Indian will have this pain in his heart. Had Sardar Patel been our first Prime Minister,then the face and the destiny of the country would have been different), he said. Modi also said Patel is an inspiration to fight Maoism and terrorism and to bring youth who have gone astray back into the mainstream. Modi,who will lay the foundation of the 182m Statue of Unity two days later at the Sardar Sarovar dam site on the Narmada river,on the birth anniversary of Patel,has been claiming that the Congress has failed to give Patel his due. The Congress,on the other hand,has been criticising the Modi government saying it had not given any funds for the memorial. The Centre has given Rs 17 crore and Union Mines Minister Dinsha Patel is the president of the memorial. In his speech,Singh called Patel secular and named Mahatma Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru,Patel and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as some leaders who did India proud. Singh said that while Nehru and Patel had differences,their points of agreement were far larger in number. He quoted Patel as having said that,It has been my good fortune to be advising Nehru on the issues nagging administration and organisation. Faith in Indias unity,a secular and broad vision,feelings for the poor and weak,tolerance and respect for those who are ideologically different from us - I feel that today the people present here would agree that these are some values which are lacking in our country today. Which makes it necessary for us to pause at intervals and recall the grand ideals on which our country was founded, said Singh. The PM also said he was proud to belong to the Congress of which Patel had been a leader. Earlier,Modi was seen attempting to make conversation with a relatively cold Singh who was seated on his right. Modi arrived at the venue on time at 5 pm and took a tour of the museum with Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel. Singh arrived at 5.25 pm and joined him at the museum. Referring to the late arrival of the PM,Modi said: There is a shortage of time. It was necessary for the honourable Prime Minister to go to Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan before coming to the Sardar Patel Smarak. Modi was visibly angry when Dinsha Patel corrected a detail in his speech where he had referred to Sardar Patels passing a resolution in the Ahmedabad Municipality on womens reservation in 1919. I would like to correct the chief minister that while what he said about the resolution is correct,it was not in 1919 but in 1926, Dinsha Patel said. The crowd,mostly comprising Congress workers,which had applauded when Modi had said the Central government under Singh had conferred more than 90 awards on Gujarat for good governance,screamed Feku,Feku when Dinsha Patel made the correction.
