Statue of unity: BJP wants 29,000 kg iron from panchayats

Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. And in this case, the state unit of the BJP believes that one can donate iron to erect the 182-metre high statue of Sardar Patel, called the Statue of Unity, at Sadhu Bet, located near Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat.

Devendra Fadnavis, the state BJP chief, said a decision to collect one kg of iron from each of the 29,000 village panchayats in the state was taken at a meeting of the party yesterday. He added that the 29,000 kg of iron collected would be a fitting tribute to the ex-union home minister, also known as the ‘iron man of the nation'.

"Narendra Modi, the Gujarat CM and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, has a dream to erect the world's tallest statue at Ahmedabad for which all state units are collecting iron, as a mark of respect to the tallest leader in the country," said Fadnavis.

He added that they were going to ask for scrap iron, mostly from agricultural equipment, such as part of a till and other farm tools. "We want to show how we can erect the world's tallest statue using such innovative concepts," said Fadnavis.

He also shared that the state unit was going to hold four rallies in Maharashtra -- one in Vidarbha, one in Marathwada, one in northern Maharashtra and another in western Maharashtra. The party has asked members to prepare for the rallies, which will be organised soon after the elections to five state assemblies in December.

Did you know?
At a proposed 182 metres, the Statue of Unity will be twice the size of Statue of Liberty (which is 93 metres tall) in the US, and four times higher than the statue of Christ the Redeemer, located in Rio De Janeiro.