CM Nayab Saini leads Rashtriya Ekta Diwas pledge in Chandigarh
Synopsis
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini led the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas pledge ceremony in Chandigarh on 31 October 2026, honouring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's legacy and administering the unity, integrity, and national security oath to state officials and employees.
Key Takeaways
Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini presided over the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas pledge ceremony in Chandigarh on 31 October 2026 .
Officers and employees took a solemn oath to uphold the unity, integrity, and security of India.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , born on 31 October , integrated more than 500 princely states into the Indian Union after 1947 .
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was instituted by the Government of India in 2014 to mark Patel's birth anniversary as a national observance.
Chandigarh serves as the joint capital of both Haryana and Punjab , making it the natural venue for Haryana's official ceremonies.
On the birth anniversary of India's Iron Man, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini stood before officers and employees in Chandigarh on 31 October 2026 and administered the national unity pledge — a ritual that has become one of the most visible markers of the state's commitment to the idea of one India.
Sharing the moment on X, CM Saini wrote: 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas ke avsar par aaj Chandigarh mein aayojit shapath samaroh mein Loh Purush Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ji ko naman kiya' — ('On the occasion of National Unity Day, I paid tribute to the Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at a pledge ceremony held in Chandigarh today') — and noted that those present took a solemn oath to uphold the unity, integrity, and security of the nation.
Why Patel's birth anniversary carries this weight
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, oversaw the integration of more than 500 princely states into the Indian Union after 1947 — a feat of political statecraft that remains unparalleled in modern nation-building. The title 'Iron Man' is inseparable from that achievement. The Government of India formally instituted Rashtriya Ekta Diwas in 2014, pegging the national observance to his birth date every 31 October, with the express aim of reinforcing national cohesion.
Chandigarh's pledge ceremony and what it represents
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab, was the venue for today's official gathering of state officials and government employees. Pledge ceremonies of this kind are held each year across Indian states and Union Territories as part of a central-government-led commemorative framework — a collective, institutionalised reaffirmation of the values Patel embodied. The three-part pledge — unity, integrity, security — maps directly onto the concerns that drove Patel's integration mission eight decades ago.
For CM Saini, leading the ceremony in person underscores the BJP-led government's consistent emphasis on Patel's legacy as a pillar of national identity. The Iron Man's flag flies especially high in the party's symbolic vocabulary, and state-level observances reinforce that national narrative year after year.
Each October 31, Patel's legacy is not merely remembered — it is renewed by oath, one state ceremony at a time.
Point of View
Anchoring the party's national-integration narrative to a pre-Independence Congress leader it has consistently claimed as its own ideological forebear. CM Saini's personal presence at the Chandigarh pledge reinforces Haryana's alignment with the central government's commemorative framework. The annual repetition of the three-part oath — unity, integrity, security — also reflects a deliberate institutional effort to embed Patel's post-Partition statecraft as a living civic value rather than a historical footnote. As border-state tensions and federal-cohesion debates recur, the symbolism of a border-adjacent state observing this pledge carries weight beyond ceremony.
NationPress
31 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rashtriya Ekta Diwas and when is it observed?
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, or National Unity Day, is observed annually on 31 October — the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Government of India instituted it in 2014 to promote national integration and unity.
What did Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini do on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 2026?
CM Saini paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at a pledge ceremony in Chandigarh on 31 October 2026 and administered the national unity oath to government officers and employees.
Why is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel called the Iron Man of India?
Sardar Patel earned the title 'Iron Man' for overseeing the integration of more than 500 princely states into the Indian Union after Independence in 1947 as the country's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
What is the national unity pledge taken on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas?
The pledge taken on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas commits participants to uphold the unity, integrity, and security of India — values drawn directly from Sardar Patel's nation-building legacy.
Where was Haryana's Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 2026 ceremony held?
The ceremony was held in Chandigarh , the Union Territory that serves as the joint capital of both Haryana and Punjab.
