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Descendants of warrior kings Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj were among members of more than 50 royal families who were felicitated at a programme organised in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to mark Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary.
At an event organised by the Vishv Umiya Foundation, a social organisation associated with the Patidar community, several descendants of royal families in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were felicitated.
Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary is also celebrated as National Unity Day. The first Deputy Prime Minister of India had played a key role in persuading princely states to integrate into the Union of India post-Independence.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, his predecessor Vijay Rupani and former deputy CM Nitin Patel, among other dignitaries, were present.
Addressing the gathering, Vishv Umiya Foundation president R P Patel said, “This event has been organised with an aim to invoke among the youth a similar consciousness that existed among the country’s leaders like Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.
Today, some people do not know (what is) rashtra chetna (national conciousness). You land up in a foreign country and do not litter but once you are back, you forget all rules. So, following rules and law is also rashtra chetna.”
Apart from descendants of Maharana Pratap, Dr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur and Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji Raje, scions of erstwhile princely states of Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Gondal, Jodhpur, Reva, Banswada and Wankaner, among others, were felicitated.
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Maharaj Lakshyaraj Singhji Mewar from Maharana Pratap’s family in Udaipur, said: “After 75 years, the thought that existed after Independence, has been rekindled in Gujarat, the land of Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi. After 75 years, the entire world is looking at India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.”
Amit Shah was to virtually inaugurate the event but instead sent a message conveying his best wishes for organising the event.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who felicitated the heirs, said: “Kings, who for ages believed in monarchy, began to believe in people’s rule after giving up their powers… (it) can be called a big achievement of democracy.”
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