Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that the Union government has decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda at the national level, and urged the countrymen to become part of this campaign.

In the 115th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Modi said that India faced various challenges in every era, and in each era, extraordinary Indians emerged to tackle those challenges.

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“In today’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’, I will discuss two such great heroes who had courage and farsightedness. The country has decided to celebrate their 150th birth anniversary. Sardar Patel’s 150th birth anniversary year will begin on the 31st of October. Following that, Bhagwan Birsa Munda’s 150th birth anniversary year will begin from the 15th of November. Both these great souls faced different challenges but their vision was the same, the ‘unity of the country’,” Modi said.

“If you ask me what the most memorable moments of my life have been, I recall many incidents, but there is one moment which is very special. That moment was when on the 15th of November last year, I visited Ulihatu village in Jharkhand, the birthplace of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, on his birth anniversary. This visit had a great impact on me. I am the first Prime Minister of the country to have the privilege of touching my forehead to the soil of this holy land,” he said.

“At that moment, I not only felt the power of the freedom struggle but also got an opportunity to connect with the strength of this land. I realised how the courage to fulfil a resolve can change the destiny of crores of people in the country,” the Prime Minister said.

“Although the government has decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of these great personalities at the national level, it is your participation that will infuse life into this campaign, and make it come alive. I would urge all of you to be part of this campaign,” he said.

“Share your thoughts and work related to the Iron Man of India Sardar Patel with the #Sardar150 and the inspirations of Dharti-Aaba Birsa Munda with the #BirsaMunda150, thus showcasing this festival to the world. Let us join together in making this festival a celebration of India’s unity in diversity, and make it a celebration of progress through heritage,” Modi added.