New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who fulfilled Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s dream of a unified India by abrogating Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir.
Flagging off the ‘Run for Unity’ on the 150th birth anniversary of the country’s first home minister, Sardar Patel, at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here, Shah said that after India’s independence, the British decided to leave the country divided into 562 princely states.
“At that time, the entire world thought that it would be impossible to unite these 562 princely states into one nation. However, within a short span of time, Sardar Patel accomplished the monumental task of integrating all 562 princely states, and the map of modern India that we see today is the result of his vision and efforts,” he said.
Shah said regions such as Kathiawar, Bhopal, Junagadh, Jodhpur, Travancore, and Hyderabad made different kinds of attempts to remain separate, but Sardar Patel’s iron will and unyielding determination brought all of them together to form one united India.
“The only task that remained incomplete was Kashmir’s full integration with India due to Article 370, but Prime Minister Modi fulfilled that unfinished task of Sardar Patel — and today, we have before us a truly unified India,” he said.
