BIDAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah hoisted a 103-feet-high Tricolour and inaugurated the Gorata Shaheed Smarak and memorial of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Gorata ground in poll-bound Karnataka's Bidar district on Sunday.

Inaugurating the Gorata Shaheed Smarak, the Home Minister remembered the locals who got killed by the army of Hyderabad's Nizam for hosting Tricolor and said, "In this Gorata village, hundreds of people were killed by the army of a cruel Nizam for hoisting just a 2.5-ft tall Tricolour. Today, I proudly say that on the same land, we have hoisted a 103-ft tall Tricolour that can't be hidden from anyone."

"On the same land, a memorial of those immortal martyrs has been erected. This 20-ft tall statue of Sardar Patel is a symbol of the significant role played by our first Home Minister in ousting the Nizam from Hyderabad. That is why this area, this Bidar could become a part of India", the HM added further.

Accusing Congress of polarisation politics and offering reservation on the basis of religion, Shah said, "Reservation provided to the minority was not as per Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion. Congress govt, due to its polarisation politics, provided reservation to the minority. BJP scrapped that reservation and provided reservations to Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities."

"In the greed for the vote bank, they never commemorated the people who sacrificed themselves for independence & 'Hyderabad mukti'. Had Sardar Patel not been there, Hyderabad would have never attained independence. Bidar too would not have attained independence" he added.