National Unity Day 2026: Amit Shah Calls Nationwide Run for Unity and Grand Parade at Ekta Nagar on October 31

India will celebrate National Unity Day on October 31, marking the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with a nationwide Run for Unity and a grand parade at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asked ministries, departments and government organisations to organise events for the occasion and ensure wide public participation, with a Unity Day pledge-taking ceremony and the Run for Unity planned across the country to spread the message of national integration.

The main celebrations will be held at Ekta Nagar, near the Statue of Unity, where a grand Unity Parade is scheduled for the evening of October 31. The parade will feature contingents from state police forces, including their anti-Naxal units, Central Armed Police Forces and NCC cadets. It will also showcase tableaux based on the central theme of Vande Mataram. People from districts affected by Left-Wing Extremism will take part in an important feature of the celebrations, highlighting the government’s emphasis on its anti-Naxal campaign and its vision of a Naxal-free India.

The celebrations at Ekta Nagar are expected to accommodate 25000 people this year, including around 5000 participants from 126 Left-Wing Extremism-affected districts. After the parade, more than 2000 artists from these districts will present a live performance reflecting their experiences. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan has said the first and foremost theme of this year’s Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is the celebration of the end of Naxalism, and a drug-free India is another key theme of the event.

The unity celebrations also carry forward an anti-drug campaign that began earlier in October. A nationwide motorcycle rally under the theme Fight Against Drugs, with more than 550 personnel from states, Union Territories and Central Armed Police Forces, was flagged off from New Delhi by Home Minister Shah on October 21 and will converge at Ekta Nagar for National Unity Day. Shah has urged police forces to stay engaged in the campaign over the next three years and work towards a drug-free India by 2029.

The celebrations will coincide with Bharat Parv 2026, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates at Ekta Nagar on October 30 and which runs until November 15, showcasing the traditions, folk performances, regional cuisines, handicrafts and tourism attractions of states and Union Territories. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is observed every year on October 31 to commemorate Patel’s birth anniversary and honour his pivotal role in uniting the princely states into one India.