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Why is Sardar important for BJP? Tug-of-war on over his legacy

NEW DELHI: The BJP has hit back at the Congress saying while everyone in the country was happy to see the Statue of Unity, the opposition party was “playing politics”.

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Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 1

Amid the tug-of-war over the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the BJP hit back at the Congress saying while everyone in the country was happy to see the Statue of Unity, the opposition party was “playing politics”.

Even in this the Congress is playing politics, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said as opposition leaders accused the BJP of trying to appropriate Patel, a Congressman. 

Responding to the criticism, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “All this while the Gandhi family had been thinking that the entire country belonged to them, so on a day when Patel has been given his rightful place, they are worried.” 

As politics continues over the statue, which no doubt is an engineering marvel, observers point to the important issues being relegated to the background--controversies related to the RBI, CBI, economic crisis and the setback to the government when the Supreme Court asked the Centre for pricing details of the Rafale fighter jets.

With the inauguration of the statue on Sardar’s birth anniversary, the BJP has been able to showcase Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the man who not just gave Patel the place he deserves in history but also as a leader who believes in national unity and delivers on promises. The decision to construct the statue was taken by Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister.

Now whether Patel would have been embarrassed with the “pomp and show” as the Congress claims or the BJP is justified in honouring the man who was ignored all this while are debatable issues. The BJP has been successful in turning it into a Nehru versus Patel issue.

Whether it will accrue it political gains, only time would tell. However, a tidbit on the sidelines is that the Sangh Parivar is acutely aware of the lack of its cadres in India’s list of freedom fighters. And so far it seems Modi has been successful in drawing the attention of people towards the Sardar and him as someone who brought a forgotten icon to the centrestage.

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