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| Sunita: Patel honour |
Ahmedabad, Sept. 18:
Astronaut Sunita Williams will receive an award named after Vallabhbhai
Patel here on Friday, but Narendra Modi has not confirmed his presence
despite being patron of the organisation bestowing the prize.
The Gujarat chief minister, hostile to the Indian-American’s family, may not find the company on the dais to his liking.
About
20 of Sunita’s relatives will watch governor Nawal Kishore Sharma hand
the Rs 2.5-lakh Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award to the
space traveller on the second day of her weeklong India visit.
One
of the chief guests will be Sunita’s uncle Vitthalbhai Pandya, the
father of slain ex-minister Haren Pandya whom Modi saw as his
arch-rival in the party. After Haren’s daylight murder, Vitthalbhai had
publicly accused the chief minister of plotting the crime.
The
guest list includes Union minister Shankersinh Vaghela, state Congress
president Bharat Solanki, former state minister Jaynarayan Vyas and
mayor Amit Shah — many of them Modi’s political opponents.
The
Vishwa Gujarati Samaj, spread across 128 countries, has chosen the
“beloved daughter of Gujarat” for this year’s award because of “her
record 195-day odyssey in space”, its president Krishnakant Vakharia
announced today.
“The
chief minister has been invited but is yet to confirm his
participation,” Vakharia said about the ex-officio patron. Sunita will
be the sixth recipient of the only major prize named after Patel.
Sources
said Modi was unlikely to attend the ceremony but might be at another
function at Gujarat University where Sunita would be felicitated on
September 22.
Modi
had for months refused to join the country in congratulating Sunita for
her achievements because she happened to be Haren’s cousin. But after
the state Congress made an issue of it, Modi realised the matter could
boomerang on him in the upcoming elections.
Early this month, he announced that Sunita would be a state guest during her visit and asked Gujarat University to honour her.
Source by telegraphindia.com
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