PATEL IGNORED BY EARLIER GOVERNMENTS
Congress says BJP is ‘adopting leaders’
Prime Minister said governments in the past have tried to run down contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
In a veiled attack on the Congress ahead of Gujarat polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said some parties and governments in the past have tried to run down and erase the contributions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in unifying the country immediately after Independence.
Flagging off a run to commemorate the 142nd birth anniversary of Patel, Mr Modi said due to the statesmanship and political acumen of the country’s first home minister, India is united today despite the colonial rulers’ wish that it was disintegrated into smaller states after Independence.
“There have been attempts to run down Patel, to ensure that the contribution of Patel is forgotten. But Sardar is Sardar, whether any government or any party recognises his contribution or not but the nation and the youth will not forget him,” he said without naming any government or party. Meanwhile, the Congress said that the BJP was “adopting” leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as its own participation in the freedom struggle was absent and accused the party of rewriting history.
The Opposition party’s criticism came on a day the government marked Patel’s birth anniversary with fanfare.
Asked about the BJP’s charge that Patel was not given Bharat Ratna till a non-Congress government came to power, Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said, “This business of trying to adopt Congress leaders is a clear indication and admission by the BJP that their participation in the freedom struggle was not only missing but is totally out of context.” “They are now trying to adopt Congress leaders and trying to rewrite history,” he said.