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Saurabh Patel, a minister in the Gujarat government said on Tuesday that he will be visiting Bihar after October 22 to invite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the unveiling ceremony of the mega statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Saurabh Patel’s statement comes after reports that Kumar had declined to meet him for an earlier visit scheduled for October 16. The reason cited was the recent violence in Gujarat targeted at migrant workers from UP and Bihar.
Saurabh Patel is currently leading a state delegation to Karnataka to invite Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Governor Vajubhai Vala for the October 31 event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to unveil the 182-metre tall statue of Sardar Patel at Kevadiya in Narmada district.
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The ‘Statue of Unity’ will be unveiled on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
“Saurabh Patel will visit Bihar with a delegation after October 22 to invite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the unveiling function of Statue of Unity,” said a statement from his office.
Rejecting reports that Kumar did not grant him time to meet the delegation, Patel, in the statement, said he has delayed his visit to Bihar due to the ongoing “Durga Puja in the state which is celebrated as an important festival with holidays there.”
“In such a situation, it is better for the delegation to visit the state after October 22,” said the statement from the office of Saurabh Patel, who holds the energy portfolio.
However, a spokesperson of Kumar’s party JD (U) has said he had no knowledge of Saurabh Patel’s visit to Bihar on October 16 getting cancelled due to the migrant issue.
“I have no such information (that Patel’s visit was cancelled),” said Bashishtha Narayan Singh, spokesperson of the Bihar unit of the JD (U).
(With agency inputs)
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