Celebrating Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s legacy
- Category
History
- Published
21st Dec, 2021
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Context
On Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 71st death anniversary today, 15 December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to India's first home minister.
About
About India’s unifier
- Born in Nadiad, Gujarat on October 31, 1875, Patel finished his schooling in 1897, following which he decided to pursue a course in Law.
- Popularly called as the ‘Iron Man of India’, Patel was a leader of the Congress party, a lawyer by profession.
- He was India's first home minister and also the first deputy prime minister, and as the first home minister and deputy prime minister of India.
- He is credited largely with the unification of the princely states in India after independence from the British.
- Sardar Patel passed away in 1950 in Mumbai (then Bombay) on December 15.

Association with Gandhi
- Patel was a prominent presence in all the protests and satyagra has against the British, during which his association with Mahatma Gandhi began to grow.
- In his entire political career, Patel accepted the leadership and ways of Gandhi during the independence struggle.
National Unity Day
- His birthday on October 31 is celebrated as National Unity day or Ekta Diwas to honour his contributions in unifying India.
Statue of Unity
- To mark his significance during the independence struggle and his contributions to independent India, PM Modi inaugurated the Statue of Unity, a colossal statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, 2018.
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