Vijay Rupani slams Sonia, Rahul Gandhi for 'not paying' tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of not showing "basic courtesy" of paying tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary on Thursday.

The BJP leader said such "contempt" for a national icon is "beyond belief".

Rupani, however, said he was not surprised by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her MP-son Rahul Gandhi "not paying" tributes to independent India's first home minister.

ALSO READ: Amit Shah flags off 'Run for Unity' to mark Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary

"When entire nation is bowing to the great Sardar Patel on his Jayanti, sad but not surprising to see Congress President Sonia Gandhi & Mr Rahul Gandhi not having even basic courtesy of paying tributes to the great stalwart! Such contempt for a national icon is beyond belief!" Rupani tweeted.

However, Rahul Gandhi, in a Facebook post earlier on Thursday, paid respect to the first Deputy Prime Minister of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya in Naramda district of Gujarat on Thursday to pay homage to Patel, credited for merger of over 560 states into the Union of India post-independence.

The Modi government has been observing Patel's birth anniversary as 'Ekta Diwas' or National Unity Day since 2014.

Patel was born on October 31, 1875, at Nadiad in Gujarat.