Patna: The ruling JDU, which once protested the BJP's move to collect iron from people of Nalanda to build a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, will now join the BJP in marking the Iron Man's birth anniversary celebrations in a big way.

This is the first time the JDU party president and chief minister Nitish Kumar will join in Patel's birth anniversary celebrations.

"Our party has never celebrated Sardar Patel's birth anniversary," a senior JDU leader told The Telegraph on condition of anonymity. "But when in company of Narendra Modi, the party cannot afford to look back. We have to take equal interest in the function. On October 31, the party has organised a big programme to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel at SK Memorial Hall in which Nitish ji will also take part."

When Nitish had parted ways with the BJP in 2013 ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had announced the world's tallest iron statue would come up in the middle of Narmada river.

Modi had added that 700 tonnes of iron would be collected from five lakh villages for the statue and Nalanda was one of the districts, the hometown of Nitish.

Attacking the BJP at that time, Nitish had said that Nalanda was known as a place of learning since early days of history and not for iron mines.

JDU and BJP leaders will share the stage to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Iron Man. According to the programme, JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar, JDU Rajya Sabha member RCP Singh and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi would be in Barh to celebrate the occasion.

"The JDU has always believed in carrying on good tradition," said JDU MLC Neeraj on being asked about why the JDU has surrendered in front of the BJP as the party has never celebrated Patel's birth anniversary on such a scale. "We have not surrendered to anyone and JDU respects Sardar Patel because he always advocated and spoke in favour of communal harmony. Through out his life, he followed the path of Mahatma Gandhi."

The same JDU had once said the BJP was insulting Sardar Patel by building his statue of iron. The JDU leader had said that one should never build a statue of iron because it rusts and weakens in a very short period of time. The JDU had opined that the BJP should have made the statute from bronze, copper, stone or plaster of Paris but by constructing a statue of iron was a big insult.