India, Oct. 31 -- Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Thursday drew a parallel between Shankaracharya and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying while one sought spiritual unity, the other strived for political unification. He was addressing a symposium at the Delhi Legislative Assembly ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31.

"As Adi Shankaracharya established India's spiritual unity through Vedanta, Sardar Patel accomplished political unity through courage and conviction," he said at the symposium. Khan said true unity cannot be built on force or fear but must arise from shared emotion, consciousness, and purpose.

He described Patel's unification of more than 560 princely States as "a historic act of ...