BJP organises run for Sardar Patel's statue

The BJP organised a run here today as part of its nationwide programme to drum up support for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's 'Statue of Unity' project on the 63rd death anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The two-km 'Run for Unity' from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's statue at Shyambazar to Swami Vivekananda's house on Shimla Street was led by BJP national vice-president Smriti Irani and the party's West Bengal unit president Rahul Sinha.
The run in which several thousand people from all walks of life participated was marked by colourful posters and banners.
Speaking at the end of the run, Irani talked about the need to keep the country united irrespective of religion, caste and creed.

"It is overwhelming to see the kind of response that Kolkata has given. This support should continue," Irani said.
She talked about Sardar Patel's great contribution in uniting the country by getting hundreds of kingdoms to merge with India at the time of Independence.
Gujarat government is building a gigantic statue of Sardar Patel, christened Statue of Unity, which it claimed would be the world's tallest statue on Sadhu Bet in Narmada river.
A campaign was also organised along with the run for collection of iron from all over the country for the statue.