Celebrating Unity: Modi Honors Sardar Patel's Legacy at Statue of Unity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat on the 150th birth anniversary of India's first home minister. The event included a cultural festival and a significant National Unity Day parade, celebrating Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, observed since 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday honored Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by laying floral tributes at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. This marked Patel's 150th birth anniversary and was celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day, a tradition initiated in 2014.

Modi arrived at the towering 182-meter statue near Ekta Nagar, situated in Gujarat's Narmada district, to pay his respects to the Iron Man of India. He then moved to a nearby venue to lead the Ekta Diwas pledge and witness the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade.

The event featured a cultural festival and a grand parade, with contingents from paramilitary forces like the BSF, CRPF, and various state police forces, organized on the scale of the Republic Day parade to commemorate the occasion.

(With inputs from agencies.)