Badal launches campaign to collect soil for Patel's statue

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today launched a campaign to collect soil from sacred places and agricultural implements across the state for the construction of a 182-metre-high statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat.
The Chief Minister collected soil from different sacred places and agricultural implements here and handed them over to state BJP president Kamal Sharma for the installation of the statue.
Sardar Patel played a pro-active role in nation building, and in accordance with his character, we have started collecting these materials from nearly 12,500 villages across the state, Badal said.
As an able administrator, Patel included 562 provincially states in the national main stream, he added.

Talking about the statue, he said it would be 182 metres high and would be double the height of the Statue of Liberty in USA.
Nearly Rs 2,500 crore would be spent on this statue and it would be the highest in the world, he said, adding that it was being installed near Kewaria in Narmada district at an island, nearly 3.5 km from Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat.

He said an agriculture research centre and museum should also be constructed on this place so that the younger generation would know about the ideologies of Patel.
Patel belonged to a family of agriculturists due to which he could easily feel the pulse of the people, he said.

Attacking Congress, Badal alleged the party gave away the legacy of Sardar Patel and was now suppressing the poor section of the society.
A party which can forget such a great leader like Patel, how can people expect their welfare from it, he alleged.
He said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was the true successor of Sardar Patel's legacy as he could only run the country to fulfill the aspirations of the people.