❖ Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

❖ He was India’s first Deputy Prime Minister of India and first Home Minister of India from 1947 to 1950.

❖ Patel successfully persuaded all the 565 self-governing princely states to accede to India after getting independence from British colonial rule.

❖ The government will commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with a two-year-long nationwide programme from 2024 to 2026.