Gujarat Minister Vijay Rupani started the Ekta Yatra from Bardoli in
\nsouth Gujarat to create awareness about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel\u2019s contribution in
\nintegrating 562 princely states under the fold of Union of India at the time of Independence
\namidst chanting of slogans of \u2018Ek Bharat; Shreshtha Bharat (One India; Best India).
\nThis is in the run-up to unveiling the Statue of Unity by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
\nSardar Patel\u2019s birth anniversary on October 31, 2018. The Ekta Yatra is scheduled to cover
\n10,000 villages of the state to cover all sections of the populace irrespective of their caste,
\ncreed or community group, while 60 Ekta Raths (chariots) will tour 5,000 villages in phase-
\nThe Statue of Unity has been built near Kevadia downstream the Sardar Sarovar Project
\n(SSP) dam on the Narmada, touted to be the world\u2019s highest statue. Bardoli was the place
\nwherefrom Sardar Patel had launched Satyagraha (civil disobedience) in 1928 against the
\nBritish government increasing tax by 30 per cent.
\nSpeaking on the occasion, Mr. Rupani said the Ekta Yatra has been taken up \u2018in the larger
\ninterest of the nation\u2019. It was Sardar Patel who had counselled and persuaded the princes
\nto join India at the time of partition. Had there been no Sardar Patel, India\u2019s map would
\nhave looked different, forcing Indians to seek visa for visiting Junagadh and Hyderabad.
\nSardar Patel had many more singular contributions, including refurbishing the Somnath
\nTemple, rising above the politics of appeasement for cultural integration.
\nHe said it is the government\u2019s duty to convey the great leaders\u2019 contributions to the people.
\nHe exuded confidence that Sardar Patel\u2019s messages would reach every home during Ekta
\nYatra. He criticised the previous governments\u2019 attempt to praise only one family-dynasty
\nand delete chapters on national leaders like Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Dr Ambedkar and Veer
\nSavarkar from history.
\nMr. Rupani said the government\u2019s Suryashakti Kisan Yojna (SKY), enabling farmers to sell
\nsurplus solar power to the electricity grid, has also been launched from Bardoli. He listed
\nother schemes and initiatives taken by the BJP Government in the interest of the farmers,<\/p>\n
such as buying sugarcane from the month of November itself, total government purchases
\namounting to Rs.6,000-crore.
\nSocial Justice & Empowerment Minister Ishwarbhsi Parmar, Forest & Tribal Development
\nMinister Ganpatsinh Vasava and Energy Minister Saurabhbahi Patel also spoke on the
\noccasion.
\nThose present on the occasion included Member of Parliament C.R. Patil, Prabhu Vasava,
\nDarshanaben Jardosh, District Panchayat President pritiben Patel, MLAs of south Gujarat,
\noffice-bearers, dignitaries and farmers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gujarat Minister Vijay Rupani started the Ekta Yatra from Bardoli in south Gujarat to create awareness about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel\u2019s contribution in integrating 562 princely states under the fold of Union of India at the time of Independence amidst chanting of slogans of \u2018Ek Bharat; Shreshtha Bharat (One India; Best India). This is in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUKPQ-1m7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5216,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions\/5216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allgujaratnews.in\/gj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}