Sardar's statute not to reap poll benefits:Minister

LUCKNOW: Gujarat Finance Minister Nitin Bhai Patel today said the ambitious "Statue of Unity" project was not started to reap benefits in upcoming Lok Sabha polls and alleged that the Congress did not give due honor to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The construction of Sardar Patel's statute, touted to be the tallest in the world, was announced by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally ahead of the Assembly polls.

He said that the "Statue of Unity" project has not been started to take advantage in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and alleged that the Congress did not give due honor to great freedom fighters such as Sardar Patel, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Veer Savarkar. The minister told reporters here that the project was conceptualized before Gujarat Assembly polls last year.

Giving details of the public participation campaign for the construction of the 182-metre tall statue, he said that the Gujarat government would launch a special campaign in seven lakh villages in the country on the death anniversary of Sardar Patel on December 15.

He said that as a part of the campaign iron equipments used by the farmers for agricultural work would be taken as token donation and would be used in construction of the statue. Patel said that global tenders would be floated in January and the construction of the statue would take three years.