Recalling his role in uniting the entire country after partition, Modi said “Sardar Patel demolished Britishers' plan to divide India in many small regions.
He single handedly merged all 550 regions with the country.” Modi also lauded Patel's vision and diplomatic abilities in uniting the farmers in the freedom struggle against the British rule and said, “His act of consolidating the farmers as a force in the freedom movement dashed the dreams of the British to break India into small parts.”.
Exhorting people to rise above casteism, communalism and language barriers to keep the country united, he said, “Sardar Patel gave us one India, we have to make it great India.” As soon as he flagged off the run, participants asked the Prime Minister to lead them and he led the run for some distance.
Highlighting the contributions of Patel, Union Minister Naidu said, “As a student I used to think that history has not done justice to Sardar Patel who had single handedly unified the country. Had Sardar Patel been the first Prime minister of India, the fate of the country would have been different, the situation would have been different”.
Lauding Patel for his mind of steel and great vision, he asked if our history books presented a true picture of his contributions, and said it was the objective of this Government to do so.
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