Bhubaneswar, Oct. 31 -- India observed National Unity Day on Saturday to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was also popularly known as the Iron Man of India. Tributes were paid to the leader for his historic contribution to the integration of hundreds of princely states into the Indian Union after Independence.

In Delhi, President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and MP Bansuri Swaraj paid floral tributes to Sardar Patel at a programme organised to mark the occasion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tribute to the leader at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

The occasion was also marked in Rourkela, whe...