After laying the foundation of an educational complex being set up by the Thakore community in Gandhinagar, Advani told the gathering that there was no distinction between the majority and the minority in the Indian Constitution.

He said the UPA government had recently tried to do so by asking for a survey in the defence services on the religious line. The chiefs of the three wings of the defence services, though, declined to do this, he said.

The BJP leader also said the poor, the downtrodden and backward classes should have the first right on the resources of the country.

He said all the castes serve one another and, in the process, serve the national interests. Advani praised Chief Minister Narendra Modi for “all-round development” of the state.

Modi, who also attended the ceremony, said when he took over as CM in 2001, one of his top priorities was to remove educational backwardness among girls in the thakore, fishermen, tribal and Muslim communities across the state.

“I am happy that these communities have positively responded to the campaign launched by the government to remove the educational backwardness among girls,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Advani inaugurated a swimming pool developed by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and a road stretch named Gaurav Path.