Hyderabad: Union minister of state for agriculture, Parshottam Rupala, and BJP state president Dr K. Laxman along with other party leaders paid tribute to first deputy prime minister Patel on his 144th birth anniversary and participated in the ‘Run for Unity’ in Hyderabad. Speaking at the event, Mr Rupala said, "Patel had united the country and gave us Ek Bharat. He is a man of steel who will always be with us and will be remembered for uniting India by merging multiple provinces. I urge the people of our country to visit Gujarat to see the statue of unity which is established in the honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
He added: "I urge the people of our country to stand together as one and collectively work to make the country shreshtha Bharat, which would be the true tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel."
Dr Laxman spoke of the initiatives and the key role played of collectively merging the princely states into one nation by Vallabhbhai Patel and said they would always be remembered.
Dr Laxman said, "Sardar Patel had an integral relationship with the city of pearls, Hyderabad. Patel freed the erstwhile Hyderabad state ruled by the Nizams."
October 31 is observed as National Unity Day since 2014 and people from all walks participate in the ‘Run for Unity,’ held across the nation.
