Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 2026 Parade to Be Held at Ekta Nagar

Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan set out the plan for Rashtriya Ekta Diwas 2026 and Bharat Parv 2026 at a press conference in New Delhi on 21 October 2026. Both are to be held at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat, and the main function falls on 31 October 2026.

How the day runs

The Prime Minister will begin the day by paying tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Statue of Unity, the tallest statue of Patel anywhere. The Ekta Parade follows in the evening. Holding the parade and the performances after dark is new this year, a change made because daytime temperatures are high.

The parade marks the end of armed Naxalism

The parade's stated emphasis is India being rid of armed Naxalism in 2026. Contingents will come from the State Police forces and the Central Armed Police Forces that led that fight. As each contingent passes the Prime Minister, a short film on its achievements will play on LED screens. Three elements carry the theme:

• The marching contingents of State Police forces and CAPFs, with films on screen
• A National School of Drama presentation on Naxal Mukt Bharat with about 2,000 artists drawn from 126 districts that once saw armed Naxalism
• About 5,000 people invited from those same 126 districts as spectators, who will recount what they lived through

Vande Mataram is the theme

The cultural items and the tableaux take Vande Mataram as their theme, this being its 150th year. The theatrical play to be staged before the Prime Minister is built on Anandamath, the novel by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, and on its idea that every Indian owes the country a part in building its future. Last year the same slot took Sardar Patel as its subject.

Tableaux designed by the public

The tableaux break with practice. They are normally designed by ministries, departments or State governments; this time designs were invited through national competitions run on MyGov and through competitions in every district of Gujarat. Fifteen tableaux will be built from what came in, without any ministry or department designing them. A people's tableau at Ekta Nagar is a first.

The cultural performance

The culture programme was also handed to the people of Gujarat rather than the Culture Ministry. Groups who migrated from other States generations ago and made Gujarat their home were asked to curate items from the States they came from. Around fifty such elements were woven into one performance of about 5,000 artists, offered as an instance of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.