BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his dig at the Modi government that the giant Rs 3,000 crore statue of freedom movement icon Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel being built in Gujarat will be "Made in China".
"At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress president is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame!" Mr Shah tweeted.
The BJP chief said Mr Gandhi's family "humiliated" Sardar Patel and unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds.
Dear @RahulGandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds.
- Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 27, 2018
Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel.
Mr Shah's outburst came after the Congress president attacked the Modi government for "insulting" Sardar Patel, saying that the statue being built for him in Gujarat is "Made in China".
"Look at your phone, look under your shoes and your clothes, all of it is Made in China. Narendra Modi ji is building Sardar Patel's statue in Gujarat. It will be world's tallest statue but it will be Made In China. They have insulted Sardar Patel," Mr Gandhi, said while addressing a campaign rally in Madhya Pradesh's Satna.
Christened the Statue of Unity, the 182-meetre structure has been built facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on the river island called Sadhu Bet near Vadodara in Gujarat. It will be inaugurated on Sardar Patel's 143rd birth anniversary on October 31 by PM Modi.
Mr Gandhi's statement appeared to draw from reports earlier this month that said several hundred Chinese labourers, were among the army of 2,500 workers, toiling around the clock to put 5,000 squares of bronze cladding on the figure of India's first Deputy Prime Minister.
(With inputs from IANS)
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