Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Congress party of ignoring the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who was instrumental in merger of over 400 princely states into one nation – India

After flagging off the run for unity to mark birth anniversary of Sardar Patel in Shimla, Shah said Congress and Nehru family had tried made attempts to belittle the contribution of Sardar Patel.

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“Successive Congress governments tried to erase name of Patel from history over the years. But the symbol of Indian unity is still ruling the heart of millions of Indians,” he said, adding such tactics can write off the contribution of such leaders.

He said after taking over as the chief minister of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative of celebrating the birth anniversary of Patel as national unity day. “And today the whole nation is celebrating the day,” he said.

He said had the will of Nehru prevailed there would have been many Pakistan.

“The then Prime Minister did not give free hand to Sardar Patel in its efforts to consolidate national unity but in spite of that Patel did the miracle to integrate hundreds of princely sates in India without any bloodshed,” he said.

Union Social Justice and empowerment minister Thawar Singh Ghelot administered the unity pledge to all and Union Health Minister JP Nadda, MPs Anurag Thakur, Virender Kashyap and state BJP incharge Mangal Pandey were also present on the occasion.