by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Modi wants all CMs at Patel Statue Unveiling Event
BJP rushed to placate Nitish Kumar
Efforts to bring Naveen Patnaik too Uddhav Thackeray disincline : 20 BJP CMs in toe
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Oct 29
Prime Minister Narendra Moi is working hard to ensure the presence of Chief Ministers of all the states at unveiling of 'Statue of Unity' dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on October 31 in Gujrat.
Modi wants to tout the ceremony as symbol of unity of the country and is in touch with every chief minister and top leaders of parties to be present when the statue is unveiled.
So keen was Modi to ensure the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the venue that he directed BJP Chief Amit Shah to seal the Lok Sabha seat sharing deal with JD (U). Shah rushed to Delhi cutting short his election campaign and made huge concessions.
As Modi wanted that all the NDA CMs be present at the statue of unity-- the BJP has its own band of 20 and it wanted nitish kumar, KCR, Palaniswamy and even. Nitish was unwilling to come.
Gujrat's senior-most Minister Saurabh Patel sought time from Nitish Kumar to invite him for the unveiling ceremony 20 days ago. But Nitish Kumar excused saying that he was traveling. The BJP was informally conveyed if the presence of Nitish is required, the seat sharing issue be settled. Similar efforts are on the persuade Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to travel to Gujrat to be part of this unity.
Modi is also keen to ensure the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the venue. The BJP leadership has also conveyed to Patnaik that its not keen to disturb his apple cart.
PM Modi made it clear to the Chief Ministers of non-BJP states that is not a party function and its dedicated to the country’s tallest leader who unified India 70 years ago.
The efforts are also being made to ensure the presence of Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray at the venue. When contacted, Sanjay Raut, Shive speokeman and Rajya Sabha MP said, “We are busy in the Ram Temple movement beginning November 25.
Barring Capt Amrinder Singh (Punjab), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) and Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), V Narayansami (Puducherry) Chief Ministers and Governor of Jammu & Kashmir are expected to attend the ceremony.
The statue touted to be the world’s tallest statue, will have a viewing gallery at the height of 193 metres from the sea level which can accommodate 200 visitors at a time. The security & intelligence agencies are making every effort to check the safety of all the VVIPs together at one place at such a height.
Nearly 3,400 labourers and 250 engineers worked round-the-clock at the site of the statue at Sadhu Bet island on Narmada river. The 182-metre tall statue will be unveiled on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel. The statue has been built at a cost of Rs. 2,389 crores. Modi had laid the foundation stone for the project on October 31, 2013 when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.
Ends
