Union ministers, BJP leaders participate in ‘ Run for Unity’

■ Minor scuffle between 2 groups in S. Delhi

The Delhi BJP on Wednesday morning organised a run — “Rashtriya Ekta Daud ( Run for Unity)” — in the national capital to celebrate the 143rd birth anniversary of India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. During one such run organised in South Delhi, a minor clash was reported between two groups.

Several senior BJP leaders and Union ministers participated in the event. Taking part in the run at Gokalpur in Northeast Delhi with city BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Sardar Patel was a great leader who united the princely states. His statue, which is the tallest in the world, will be unveiled ( by Prime Minister Narendra Modi) today.”

“It is ( Patel’s birth anniversary) a national festival which is being celebrated across the country,” Mr Prasad added while alleging that it took 41 years to honour the first home minister of India with Bharat Ratna as the Congress was concerned with only one family.

Sardar Patel was bestowed the country’s highest civilian award posthumously in 1991, 41 years after his death in 1950. “We do not oppose Nehru. But we protest the idea that everything was done by the Nehru family and nothing by Sardar Patel,” said Mr Prasad.

Sources claimed that during a run in South Delhi, clashes broke out between two groups and taking cognisance of the incident, Mr Tiwari told this newspaper that there is “a conspiracy to defame the BJP and its leaders and party will hold an inquiry to find out men involved in the incident”.

Mr Tiwari said people would not be able to move freely across the country had Sardar Patel not united the princely states. Union ministers Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel joined the participants in Keshavpuram and Chandni Chowk respectively.