At a time when the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel has created serious divisions in the opposition BJP, the Centre today described the former Home Minister as a “national icon” and sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the renovation and upgrade of two memorials in his name in his home state Gujarat.

The Centre decided to grant Rs 17 crore to the Sardar Patel Memorial Trust at Ahmedabad and Rs 3 crore to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Vir Vithalbhai Patel Memorial at Karamsad in Anand district for the upgradation of facilities and renovation of the two buildings.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Sardar Patel is our national icon and we should not be niggardly in accepting requests from trusts engaged in keeping his memory alive,” Manmohan Singh said at the meeting, according to sources in Prime Minister’s Office.

Incidentally, the requests by the trusts for some money had been pending with the Centre for a couple of years. The timing of the Centre’s decision coincides with a major rift in the BJP over the legacy of Patel — the party expelled its senior leader Jaswant Singh for depicting an unfavourable account of Patel in his latest book.