We remember Maharana Pratap, Bhagat Singh, Shivaji....were they BJP members: Narendra Modi

AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi made a fresh grab for Sardar Patel’s legacy on Thursday, extolling his brand of secularism and claiming it closer to his own while rebuking PM Manmohan Singh for his earlier statement that he felt proud Patel belonged to the same political party as him.

“Were Maharana Pratap, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Shivaji BJP members? Will we only remember BJP members? To associate Sardar Patel with any party would be great injustice. That party ( Congress) was a part of his life and both history and Modi cannot deny it,” Modi said while laying the foundation stone for Patel’s 182-metre tall ‘Statue of Unity’ at Kevadia on the banks of the Narmada River.

Taking off from where the PM left two days ago, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said India should follow Patel’s secularism, the secularism that rebuilt Somnath temple, than “votebank” secularism.

“We also say that this country needs the secularism of Sardar Patel, not vote bank secularism. He was secular but that didn’t come in the way of his rebuilding the Somanth temple. He moved ahead, keeping in mind the country’s heritage. The country needs the secularism of Sardar Patel. It will never be divided,” Modi said.

Modi said though Mahatma Gandhi fought to free the country of untouchability, political untouchability still existed. “We should also try and remove political untouchability,” he said.