A statue of Sadar Vallabhbhai Patel
Government employees who work in buildings close to the Parliament enjoyed a half day today. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a 'Run for Unity", a mega event to celebrate Sardar Patel's 139th birth anniversary, and the police needed to clear and sanitise the area after 2 pm on Thursday.
It is a security drill usually reserved only for the eve of Republic Day.
A statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first home minister, near Parliament House will at the centre of celebrations tomorrow. But the Government has no official plan to mark the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated on October 31, 1984. PM Modi is unlikely to visit the Shakthi Sthal, a monument built in her honour.
Officially, the Congress has sought to play this down. "In August 2012, the Congress President had written to the then Prime Minister that the government should organise only Mahatma Gandhi's functions," said Ajay Maken, who heads the Congress' communication cell.
The Congress wants to avoid turning Friday into a Gandhi vs Patel affair and argues that Sardar was a Congressman too, perhaps to stave off the criticism that it is focused on only on the Gandhi family.
But some Congress leaders have expressed outrage. Like Shashi Tharoor, who recently earned his party's ire for his enthusiasm over the PM's Clean India campaign. Mr Tharoor tweeted, "Disgraceful that the government is ignoring the martyrdom of our only Prime Minister, who was killed in office in the line of duty. Oct 31 forgotten?"
Former minister Ambika Soni told NDTV: "They are organizing this march on such a large scale, as a political activist I feel they are somehow trying to suppress the memory of the martyrdom of Indira Gandhi."
The ruling BJP is dismissive. "I think the Government of India under Prime Minister Modi is according due respect to everyone who deserves it. It's the Congress that is guilty in some ways of trying to diminish the stature and contribution of people who got freedom for India," said BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli.