India, Nov. 1 -- Often compared to Bismarck of Germany, Sardar Patel's contribution to uniting the erstwhile fragmented India was no less. He stood tall and unmoved as his 'police action' - or the threat of it - made princely states fall in line, and thus a nation was born - India. As India celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the nation paused to honour the man who stitched together the fragments of princely India into a single, sovereign nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat on this momentous occasion. President Droupadi Murmu too, in her message, described Patel as a "visionary nation-builder."
Born on October 31, 1875, in Nadiad, Gujarat, Pate...