President Smt. Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Minister for Home & Cooperation Amit Shah and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Vinay Kumar Saxena paid floral tributes to the Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on his birth anniversary, in New Delhi.
Home Minister flagged off the Run for Unity at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Delhi. Several dignitaries including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Minister of State for External Affairs Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi and Union Minister of State for Home Nishith Pramanik were present on the occasion.
Amit Shah also administered the oath of National Unity to those present during the event. He said today’s program has special significance as we are celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. He said we are taking forward the important message of national integration on the birth anniversary of a man who laid the foundations of a modern India after Independence and devoted his life in realizing its vision.
He said as soon as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s name is mentioned, the map of today’s United India comes ti mind, and if it was not for Sardar Saheb, then the vast, resolute, powerful India of today would not have been possible. He said after Independence, the biggest problem faced by the country was to unite more than 500 Princely States and form an Indian Union and in its creation, the country’s first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Saheb played a major role.
He said it was Sardar Sahib who with his skillful and unique political acumen united the whole country. Shah said that even at that time anti-national forces had left no stone unturned in dividing the country, but it was due to the efforts of Sardar Sahib, that we see the integrated map of India, as it is today.
