National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) falls on October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; 2026 marks his 151st, with the theme “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat”. Patel (1875–1950), a freedom fighter and senior Indian National Congress leader, led the Kheda Satyagraha (1918) for farmers hit by crop failure and the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) in Gujarat, which earned him the title “Sardar”. He was INC President at the 1931 Karachi Session. After Independence in 1947, aided by V. P. Menon, he integrated over 560 princely states. He was India's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister (1947–1950); known as the “Iron Man of India”, he got the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1991. The Statue of Unity at Kevadia (Ekta Nagar), Gujarat, opened in 2018, is the world's tallest statue.
