Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed happiness over JD(S) chief HD Devegowda’s visit to Statue of Unity in Gujarat. “Happy to see our former PM Shri HD Devegowda Ji visit the ‘Statue of Unity’,” Prime Minister Modi said while commenting on a post shared by the JD(S) chief on Twitter. Devegowda after visiting the tallest statute of the world posted the pictures on the microblogging site writing: “Visited Statue of Unity at Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat.”

The ‘Statue of Unity’ is a giant statue of first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who had played a key role to bring over 600 princely states together during the independence. The ‘Statue of Unity’ was Prime Minister Modi’s pet project which was announced back in 2010. The project was announced when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. Last year on October 31 which also the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, Prime Minister Modi dedicated the ‘Statue of Unity’ to the nation.

This year in August, Time included Statue of Unity in a list of 100 greatest places 2019. Following the development, Prime Minister Modi in a tweet said: “Excellent news vis-à-vis the ‘Statue of Unity’- it finds a spot in the @TIME 100 greatest places 2019 list. And, a few days back, a record 34,000 people visited the site in a single day. Glad that it is emerging as a popular tourist spot!” The central government and as well as state government have been promoting ‘Statue of Unity’ as a tourist place.