Shimla, Nov 16 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh will launch a statewide drive next year to collect waste iron from farmers to erect a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the world's tallest, a party leader said here Saturday.
The statue is the dream project of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
"We have constituted a 20-member committee to collect the waste iron and soil from 20,118 villages in the state," former BJP minister Jairam Thakur told reporters.
He said the drive to collect the iron and soil would be conducted from Jan 15 to 26.
"We will also observe the death anniversary of the former home minister Dec 15 as 'Run For Unity'," he added.
The 182-metre statue of Sardar Patel is to be built in the middle of a water body, three km downstream of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat.