The country Monday fondly remembered its first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 130th birth anniversary.
Leading the celebrations paying homage to the 'iron man', as Patel was popularly known, were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party president and leader of opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani who paid floral tributes at the Patel's portrait in Central Hall of Parliament in a simple ceremony.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and a host of poltical leaders were present on the occasion.
During his four-year stint as Independent India's home minister, Patel played a significant role in the merger of more than 600 princely states into the Union and acquired the sorbiquet of 'iron man'.
He was decorated with the title of 'Sardar' when he successfully led a farmer's struggle against imposition of 30% tax on agricultural land by the British at Bordoloi in Gujarat.