Patel, along with Nehru, was a leader of the Indian National Congress, which led the independence drive against British colonial rule and became a political party. Why are India’s leaders fighting over his legacy? He did so with a mix of diplomacy and threats of armed action.Ĭommonly hailed as the Iron Man of India, he held two important positions in India’s first government – deputy prime minister and minister of home affairs – before his death in 1950. What were Patel’s accomplishments?īorn to a farming family in 1875, Patel, after working to help India gain independence from Britain in 1947, helped persuade the rulers of 565 semiautonomous princely states to join the new nation. The statue can reportedly withstand a magnitude-6.5 earthquake. The area around it is being developed into a tourist zone with a museum, hotels, restaurants and a research center focused on agricultural development, one of Patel’s passions. Two high-speed elevators reach a viewing gallery that can hold up to 200 people – and includes (naturally) a selfie point. India has spent $430 million over 42 months to build what it calls the world’s grandest statue. A government drive collected 135 tons of scrap iron from farmers to help build the interior. It stands on a remote coastal bank of the Narmada River in Gujarat, the home to both Patel and Modi.Ĭast from roughly 1,700 tons of bronze, the statue depicts Patel standing erect and staring into the heavens while garbed in a traditional shawl and vest over a thigh-length kurta.
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