Modi slams Congress for ‘insulting’ Sardar Patel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ without naming it, and said that the party has ignored Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary.Citing Congress’ advertisements in local newspapers in Gujarat on Monday, Modi said after laying the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 8,000 crore here, “Though today is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary, none of Congress’ ads carries his photo or his name. Sardar Patel was such a tall Congress leader and a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet. You can’t unite over Sardar Patel, and now you are out to connect India. Why is the Congress insulting Sardar Patel? Gujarat will never tolerate this insult.” The Prime Minister added, “Life in Gujarat is full of struggle. Every decade we have faced droughts, the devastating earthquake had also tested us, but we, the courageous Gujaratis, could never be defeated by tough times. We have always confronted adverse situations with whatever resources we had at our disposal. Banaskantha district is an example of this.” Recollecting his old days in north Gujarat, Modi said, “Don’t you remember there were very few surface water sources here? North Gujarat was dependent on underground fluoride water, which had side-effects on our health. But since you gave me an opportunity to serve you, we worked on water harvesting by constructing check dams on rivers and deepening the traditional lakes, which helped the region meet its water needs.”