The irony could not be starker: in the absence of dignitaries from outside his home State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dedication to the nation of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue, the world’s tallest, turned out to be a rather tame affair.
Though Modi mentioned the Rashtriya Ekta Divas (National Unity Day) being observed on Wednesday in the country to mark the 143rd birth anniversary of the Iron Man, who is credited with unifying India, the BJP’s Gujarat unit decided to run solo!
Conspicuous absence of CMs
Apart from Governor Om Prakash Kohli, only BJP leaders from Gujarat were present on the podium. Besides the PM, they included BJP President Amit Shah, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy CM Nitin Patel, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rajendra Trivedi, and Anandi Ben Patel (Governor, Madhya Pradesh) and Vajubhai Vala (Governor, Karnataka).
For some ‘inexplicable’ reason, none of the 15-odd Chief Ministers invited turned up. Rupani had personally travelled to Lucknow to invite UP Chief Minister Yogi Adiya Nath and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel had gone to Patna with a similar invite for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Other ministers were dispatched to different States to invite the CMs and Governors.
The absence of BJP CMs Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) was attributed to the ongoing Assembly elections in these States. But even Devendra Fadnavis, CM of Maharashtra from which Gujarat was carved out in 1960, was absent.
In a rather lacklustre event, despite all the hype and hoopla, Modi himself began his 50-minute address in a subdued tone, finding the crowd rather unresponsive to repeat his slogans of Sardar Patel Amar Rahe. But later, he tried to enthuse the people by launching a mild attack on the Opposition.
“There are some who have the temerity to look through political glasses our efforts to recognise the greatness of our leaders. They condemn us as if we have committed a grave crime. Did we commit any crime?” he asked, as few responded.