Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: How Congress and Nehru sidelined the Iron Man of India - 8 points

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the Iron Man of India, was the first deputy prime minister of India and the first home minister of the country. The statesman had a significant contribution in India’s freedom struggle and in building a framework for independent India. However, he was consistently sidelined pre- and post-independence.

Several references to this have been made over the years. ‘My Take’, a 2014 book by Lal Krishna Advani states that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was ignored by the Indian National Congress (INC) leadership, and specifically India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

On the occasion of the death anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on December 15, we take a look at how the Congress reduced the influence of the leader.

How Congress and Nehru sidelined Sardar Patel

Sardar Patel stopped from becoming Congress President

The book states that Sardar Patel had secured majority votes among the committees to become the new Congress party president. However, it was Jawaharlal Nehru who was made Congress president. It is known that it was Mahatma Gandhi who wished to see Jawaharlal Nehru as Congress president in independent India, and hence requested Sardar Patel to withdraw from the race.

When Nehru insulted Sardar Patel in Cabinet meet

The excerpt from the book states that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru once humiliated Sardar Patel during an important Cabinet meeting to discuss the liberation of Hyderabad from the Nizam.

After the insult, Patel, who was the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India then, walked off and never attended a Cabinet meeting again. Advani cites that Nehru shouted at Patel in the meet, saying, “You are a complete communalist and I’ll never be a party to your suggestions and proposals.”

MKK Nair, a 1947 batch IAS officer, further throws light on the incident. He writes in his book ‘With No Ill Feeling to Anybody’, “A shocked Sardar Patel collected his papers from the table and slowly walked out of the Cabinet room.”

“That was the last time Patel attended a Cabinet meeting. He also stopped speaking to Nehru since then,” Nair further wrote.

Nehru completely ignored the Iron Man of India’s “decisive action” to order police action against the Nizam of Hyderabad, in favour of a consolidated nation.

Bharat Ratna awarded after 41-year delay

Sardar Vallbhai Patel had a huge contribution in India’s freedom struggle from the Raj. He could have been awarded a Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, much earlier. Patel died on December 15, 1950, the same year that India became a Republic. However, the leader was awarded a Bharat Ratna posthumously as late as 1991, a good 41 years after his demise. The award was instituted in 1954.

Although it was Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, a Congress PM, in whose tenure Sardar Patel was bestowed with the Bharat Ratna honour posthumously, the nation feels it could have been done earlier during the tenures of PM Indira Gandhi and PM Rajiv Gandhi.

President Dr. Rajendra Prasad called out Congress’ treatment of Sardar Patel

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first president, reportedly called out the Congress’ treatment of Sardar Patel even posthumously. “No attempt has been made in Delhi to erect a memorial. Even the portrait in the Parliament House is a gift from the Prince of Gwalior. Let us not, therefore, run away with the thought that his (Sardar Patel’s) services are any the less valuable because we choose not to recognize them,” Dr. Prasad is believed to have said.

UPA not in favour of Sardar Patel memorial in Gujarat

It was reported in The Hindu that when the Gujarat government submitted a Rs.22-crore project development proposal to the UPA-led government for the Sardar Patel memorial, it was ignored. The Centre reportedly “agreed in principle” to sanction Rs.5 crore immediately and the rest later. However, there has been no progress on it.

Only one institution named after Sardar Patel

While there are many institutions, roads, etc. named after the Gandhi-Nehru family and their allies, the UPA named only one institution after Sardar Patel, as per a report in Rediff. A 2012 RTI query against the Ministry of Planning during the UPA-led government reveals that as many as 27 out of 58 institutions and schemes were named after the Nehru-Gandhi clan, while only one was named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Did Nehru insult Sardar Patel’s daughter?

Sardar Patel’s daughter Maniben Patel was allegedly insulted by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, as stated in The Pioneer. As recounted by Verghese Kurien, pioneer of the White Revolution in India, after Sardar Patel’s death, when his daughter returned a bag containing ₹35 lakh belonging to the Congress to Nehru, he simply took it and thanked her. The prime minister did not show any further courtesy.

“I thought he (Nehru) might ask me how I would manage now, or at least ask if there was anything he could do to help me. But he never asked,” said Maniben Patel.

Maniben Patel reduced to photo-op

Not only did the Congress repeatedly insult Sardar Patel, but also his daughter Maniben Patel. As if Nehru not enquiring about her well-being was not enough, in her last days, the then Congress leadership used her as an opportunity. Verghese Kurien again states an incident in The Pioneer when Sardar Patel’s daughter was on her deathbed. Chimanbhai Patel, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, allegedly visited her only to take pictures with her by her bedside.