Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The spat between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party over the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel got fierce on Thursday.
On microblogging website Twitter, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said Sardar Patel was humility personified and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was arrogance personified.
Singh commemorated the 134th birth anniversary of India’s ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Patel and death anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, popularly known as ‘Iron Lady’.
Underlining the differences between the personalities of Patel and Modi, Singh noted that India’s first home minister, “known for his simplicity and humility”, wore Khadi all his life. “Modi poses with Designer clothes and Branded Glasses,” Singh tweeted.
“Sardar-Humility personified ! Modi- Conceit and Arrogance personified Sardar - United India Modi- Divides NDA BJP and Hindus and Minorities (sic),” further tweeted Singh.
Taking a jibe at the BJP’s PM candidate, Singh said Sardar Patel organised farmers against the British and was the Father of Cooperative Movement in Gujarat. “Under Modi both not on his agenda,” said Singh.
The Congress accuses Modi of "misusing" Sardar Patel`s name for "political gains", but the opposition party says the Congress had no patent on the national leader.
On October 29, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Modi were locked in an ideological battle over Sardar Patel, with Narendra Modi wishing the "Iron Man" had been India`s first prime minister and Manmohan Singh underlining that Patel was a Congress leader and secular to the core.
Modi is building the world`s tallest statue at a cost of Rs 2,500 crore in honour of Sardar Patel.
The statue is proposed to be a 182 metre-high monument of Sardar Patel, directly facing the Narmada Dam near Bharuch in Gujarat.
