Vallabhbhai Patel

Vallabhbhai Patel
Vallabhbhai Jhav erbhai Patel [1 ][2 ] (31 October 187 5 – 15

Sardar
December 1950), popularly known as Sardar Patel, was an Indian
politician. He serv ed as the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. He
Vallabhbhai Patel
was an Indian barrister, a senior leader of the Indian National
Congress and a founding father of the Republic of India who play ed
a leading role in the country 's struggle for independence and guided
its integration into a united, independent nation. [3 ] In India and
elsewhere, he was often called Sardar, meaning "chief" in Hindi,
Urdu, and Persian. He acted as Home Minister during the political
integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 . [4 ]
Patel was raised in the country side of the state of Gujarat. [5 ] He was
a successful lawy er. He subsequently organised peasants from
Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-v iolent civ il
disobedience against the British Raj, becoming one of the most
influential leaders in Gujarat. He was appointed as the 49th
President of Indian National Congress, organising the party for
elections in 1934 and 1937 while promoting the Quit India
Mov ement. 1st Deputy Prime Minister of
India
As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, In office
Patel organised relief efforts for refugees fleeing to Punjab and Delhi 15 August 1947 – 15 December
from Pakistan and worked to restore peace. He led the task of 1950
forging a united India, successfully integrating into the newly Monarch George VI
independent nation those British colonial prov inces that had been
President Rajendra Prasad
"allocated" to India. [6 ] Besides those prov inces that had been under
Governor Louis
direct British rule, approximately 565 self-gov erning princely
General Mountbatten
states had been released from British suzerainty by the Indian
C.
Independence Act of 1947 . Threatening military force, Patel
Rajagopalachari
persuaded almost ev ery princely state to accede to India. His
commitment to national integration in the newly independent Preceded by Position
country was total and uncompromising, earning him the sobriquet established
"Iron Man of India". [7 ] He is also remembered as the "patron saint Minister of Home Affairs
of India's civ il serv ants" for hav ing established the modern all-India In office
serv ices sy stem. He is also called the "Unifier of India". [8 ] The 15 August 1947 – 15 December
Statue of Unity , the world's tallest statue, was dedicated to him on 1950
31 October 2018 which is approximately 182 metres (597 ft) in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
height. [9 ]
Preceded by Position
established
Contents
Succeeded by C.
Early life
Rajagopalachari
Fight for self-rule
1st Commander-in-chief of the
Satyagraha in Gujarat Indian Armed Forces
Legal Battle with Subhas Chandra Bose
In office
Quit India movement
15 August 1947 – 15 December
Integration after Independence and role of Gandhi 1950
Cabinet mission and partition
Monarch George VI
Political integration of India
Governor Louis
Leading India
Father of All India Services General Mountbatten
C.
Gandhi's death and relations with Nehru
Rajagopalachari
Death
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
Reception
Nehru and Patel Preceded by Position
established
Legacy
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Succeeded by Position
Statue of Unity abolished
Other institutions and monuments (merged to the
In popular media President of
See also
India)
Notes Personal details
References Born Vallabhbhai

Citations Jhaverbhai Patel
Sources 31 October 1875
Further reading Nadiad, Bombay
Primary sources Presidency,
External links British India
Died 15 December
1950 (aged 75)
Early life Bombay, Bombay
Patel, one of the six children of Jhav erbhai Patel and Ladba, was
State, India
born in Nadiad, Gujarat[1 0 ] . Patel's date of birth was nev er officially Cause of death heart attack
recorded; Patel entered it as 31 October on his matriculation Political party Indian National
examination papers. [1 1 ] He belonged to the Leuv a Patel Patidar Congress
community of Central Gujarat, although after his fame, the Leuv a
Spouse(s) Jhaverben Patel
Patels and Kadav a Patels hav e also claimed him as one of their
Children Maniben Patel
own. [1 2 ]
Dahyabhai Patel
Mother Laad Bai
Father Jhaverbhai Patel
Patel trav elled to attend schools in Nadiad, Petlad, and Borsad, Alma mater Middle Temple
liv ing self-sufficiently with other boy s. He reputedly cultiv ated a
Profession Barrister ·
stoic character. A popular anecdote recounts that he lanced his
Politician · Activist
own painful boil without hesitation, ev en as the barber charged
· Freedom
with doing it trembled. [1 3 ] When Patel passed his matriculation at
Fighter
the relativ ely late age of 22, he was generally regarded by his elders
Awards Bharat Ratna
as an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job. Patel
(1991)
himself, though, harboured a plan to study to become a lawy er,
(posthumously)
work and sav e funds, trav el to England, and become a barrister. [1 4 ]
Patel spent y ears away from his family , study ing on his own with
books borrowed from other lawy ers, passing his examinations
within two y ears. Fetching his wife Jhav erba from her parents'
home, Patel set up his household in Godhra and was called to the
bar. During the many y ears it took him to sav e money , Patel – now
an adv ocate – earned a reputation as a fierce and skilled lawy er.
The couple had a daughter, Maniben, in 1904 and a son, Dahy abhai,
in 1906. Patel also cared for a friend suffering from the Bubonic
plague when it swept across Gujarat. When Patel himself came down
with the disease, he immediately sent his family to safety , left his
home, and mov ed into an isolated house in Nadiad (by other
accounts, Patel spent this time in a dilapidated temple); there, he
recov ered slowly . [1 5 ]
Patel practised law in Godhra, Borsad, and Anand while taking on

the financial burdens of his homestead in Karamsad. Patel was the Painting of Sardar Vallabhai Patel as
deputy prime minister that appeared
first chairman and founder of "Edward Memorial High School"
in the 1948 issue of Chandamama
Borsad, today known as Jhav erbhai Dajibhai Patel High School. magazine
When he had sav ed enough for his trip to England and applied for a
pass and a ticket, they were addressed to "V. J. Patel," at the home
of his elder brother Vithalbhai, who had the same initials as Vallabhai. Hav ing once nurtured a similar hope
to study in England, Vithalbhai remonstrated his y ounger brother, say ing that it would be disreputable for an
older brother to follow his y ounger brother. In keeping with concerns for his family 's honour, Patel allowed
Vithalbhai to go in his place. [1 6 ]
In 1909 Patel's wife Jhav erba was hospitalised in Bombay (now Mumbai) to undergo major surgery for
cancer. Her health suddenly worsened and, despite successful emergency surgery , she died in the hospital.
Patel was giv en a note informing him of his wife's demise as he was cross-examining a witness in court.
According to witnesses, Patel read the note, pocketed it, and continued his cross-examination and won the
case. He broke the news to others only after the proceedings had ended. [1 7 ] Patel decided against marry ing
again. He raised his children with the help of his family and sent them to English-language schools in Mumbai.
At the age of 36 he journey ed to England and enrolled at the Middle Temple Inn in London. Completing a 36-
month course in 30 months, Patel finished at the top of his class despite hav ing had no prev ious college
background. [1 8 ]
Returning to India, Patel settled in Ahmedabad and became one of the city 's most successful barristers.
Wearing European-sty le clothes and sporting urbane mannerisms, he became a skilled bridge play er. Patel
nurtured ambitions to expand his practice and accumulate great wealth and to prov ide his children with a
modern education. He had made a pact with his brother Vithalbhai to support his entry into politics in the
Bombay Presidency , while Patel remained in Ahmedabad to prov ide for the family . [1 9 ][2 0 ]
Fight for self-rule

At the urging of his friends, Patel ran in the election for the post of sanitation commissioner of Ahmedabad in
1917 and won. While often clashing with British officials on civ ic issues, he did not show any interest in
politics. Upon hearing of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, he joked to the lawy er and political activ ist, Ganesh
Vasudev Mav lankar, that "Gandhi would ask y ou if y ou know how to sift pebbles from wheat. And that is
supposed to bring independence." A subsequent meeting with Gandhi, in October 1917 fundamentally
changed Patel and led him to join the Indian independence struggle. [2 1 ]
In September 1917 , Patel deliv ered a speech in Borsad, encouraging Indians nationwide to sign Gandhi's
petition demanding Swaraj – self-rule – from Britain. A month later, he met Gandhi for the first time at the
Gujarat Political Conference in Godhra. On Gandhi's encouragement, Patel became the secretary of the
Gujarat Sabha, a public body that would become the Gujarati arm of the Indian National Congress. Patel now
energetically fought against veth – the forced serv itude of Indians to Europeans – and organised relief efforts
in the wake of plague and famine in Kheda. [2 2 ] The Kheda peasants' plea for exemption from taxation had
been turned down by British authorities. Gandhi endorsed waging a struggle there, but could not lead it
himself due to his activ ities in Champaran. When Gandhi asked for a Gujarati activ ist to dev ote himself
completely to the assignment, Patel v olunteered, much to Gandhi's delight. [2 3 ] Though his decision was
made on the spot, Patel later said that his desire and commitment came after intense personal
contemplation, as he realised he would hav e to abandon his career and material ambitions. [2 4 ]
Satyagraha in Gujarat
Supported by Congress v olunteers Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandy a, and Abbas Ty abji, Vallabhbhai Patel
began a v illage-by -v illage tour in the Kheda district, documenting griev ances and asking v illagers for their
support for a statewide rev olt by refusing to pay taxes. Patel emphasised the potential hardships and the
need for complete unity and non-v iolence in the face of prov ocation. He receiv ed an enthusiastic response
from v irtually ev ery v illage. [2 5 ] When the rev olt was launched and tax rev enue withheld, the gov ernment
sent police and intimidation squads to seize property , including confiscating barn animals and whole farms.
Patel organised a network of v olunteers to work with indiv idual v illages, helping them hide v aluables and
protect themselv es against raids. Thousands of activ ists and farmers were arrested, but Patel was not. The
rev olt ev oked sy mpathy and admiration across India, including among pro-British Indian politicians. The
gov ernment agreed to negotiate with Patel and decided to suspend the pay ment of taxes for a y ear, ev en
scaling back the rate. Patel emerged as a hero to Gujaratis. [2 6 ] In 1920 he was elected president of the newly
formed Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee; he would serv e as its president until 1945.
Patel supported Gandhi's non-co-operation Mov ement and toured the state to recruit more than 300,000
members and raise ov er Rs. 1.5 million in funds. [2 7 ] Helping organise bonfires in Ahmedabad in which
British goods were burned, Patel threw in all his English-sty le clothes. Along with his daughter Mani and son
Dahy a, he switched completely to wearing khadi, the locally produced cotton clothing. Patel also supported
Gandhi's controv ersial suspension of resistance in the wake of the Chauri Chaura incident. In Gujarat he
worked extensiv ely in the following y ears against alcoholism, untouchability , and caste discrimination, as
well as for the empowerment of women. In the Congress, he was a resolute supporter of Gandhi against his
Swarajist critics. Patel was elected Ahmedabad's municipal president in 1922, 1924, and 1927 . During his
terms, he ov ersaw improv ements in infrastructure: the supply of electricity was increased, drainage and
sanitation sy stems were extended throughout the city . The school sy stem underwent major reforms. He
fought for the recognition and pay ment of teachers employ ed in schools established by nationalists
(independent of British control) and ev en took on sensitiv e Hindu–Muslim issues. [2 8 ] Patel personally led
relief efforts in the aftermath of the torrential rainfall of 1927 that caused major floods in the city and in the
Kheda district, and great destruction of life and property . He established refugee centres across the district,
mobilised v olunteers, and arranged for supplies of food, medicines, and clothing, as well as emergency funds
from the gov ernment and the public. [2 9 ]
When Gandhi was in prison, Patel was asked by Members of Congress to lead the satyagraha in Nagpur in
1923 against a law banning the raising of the Indian flag. He organised thousands of v olunteers from all ov er
the country to take part in processions of people v iolating the law. Patel negotiated a settlement obtaining
the release of all prisoners and allowing nationalists to hoist the flag in public. Later that y ear, Patel and his
allies uncov ered ev idence suggesting that the police were in league with a local dacoit/ criminal gang related
to Dev ar Baba in the Borsad taluka ev en as the gov ernment prepared to lev y a major tax for fighting dacoits
in the area. More than 6,000 v illagers assembled to hear Patel speak in support of proposed agitation against
the tax, which was deemed immoral and unnecessary . He organised hundreds of Congressmen, sent
instructions, and receiv ed information from across the district. Ev ery v illage in the taluka resisted pay ment
of the tax and prev ented the seizure of property and land. After a protracted struggle, the gov ernment
withdrew the tax. Historians believ e that one of Patel's key achiev ements was the building of cohesion and
trust amongst the different castes and communities, which had been div ided along socio-economic lines. [3 0 ]
In April 1928 Patel returned to the independence struggle from his municipal duties in Ahmedabad when
Bardoli suffered from a serious double predicament of a famine and a steep tax hike. The rev enue hike was
steeper than it had been in Kheda ev en though the famine cov ered a large portion of Gujarat. After cross-
examining and talking to v illage representativ es, emphasising the potential hardship and need for non-
v iolence and cohesion, Patel initiated the struggle with a complete denial of taxes. [3 1 ] Patel organised
v olunteers, camps, and an information network across affected areas. The rev enue refusal was stronger than
in Kheda, and many sy mpathy satyagrahas were undertaken across Gujarat. Despite arrests and seizures of
property and land, the struggle intensified. The situation came to a head in August, when, through
sy mpathetic intermediaries, he negotiated a settlement that included repealing the tax hike, reinstating
v illage officials who had resigned in protest, and returning seized property and land. It was by the women of
Bardoli, during the struggle and after the Indian National Congress v ictory in that area, that Patel first began
to be referred to as Sardar (or headman). [3 2 ]
As Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March, Patel was arrested in
the v illage of Ras and was put on trial without witnesses, with no
lawy er or journalists allowed to attend. Patel's arrest and Gandhi's
subsequent arrest caused the Salt Saty agraha to greatly intensify in
Gujarat – districts across Gujarat launched an anti-tax rebellion
until and unless Patel and Gandhi were released. [3 3 ] Once released,
Patel serv ed as interim Congress president, but was re-arrested
while leading a procession in Mumbai. After the signing of the Maulana Azad, Jamnalal Bajaj, Patel
Gandhi–Irwin Pact, Patel was elected president of Congress for its (third from left, in the foreground),
1931 session in Karachi – here the Congress ratified the pact and Subhash Chandra Bose and other
committed itself to the defence of fundamental rights and civ il Congressmen at Wardha
liberties. It adv ocated the establishment of a secular nation with a

minimum wage and the abolition of untouchability and serfdom. Patel used his position as Congress
president to organise the return of confiscated land to farmers in Gujarat. [3 4 ] Upon the failure of the Round
Table Conference in London, Gandhi and Patel were arrested in January 1932 when the struggle re-opened,
and imprisoned in the Y erav da Central Jail. During this term of imprisonment, Patel and Gandhi grew close to
each other, and the two dev eloped a close bond of affection, trust, and frankness. Their mutual relationship
could be described as that of an elder brother (Gandhi) and his y ounger brother (Patel). Despite hav ing
arguments with Gandhi, Patel respected his instincts and leadership. In prison, the two discussed national
and social issues, read Hindu epics, and cracked jokes. Gandhi taught Patel Sanskrit. Gandhi's secretary ,
Mahadev Desai, kept detailed records of conv ersations between Gandhi and Patel. [3 5 ] When Gandhi
embarked on a fast-unto-death protesting the separate electorates allocated for untouchables, Patel looked
after Gandhi closely and himself refrained from partaking of food. [3 6 ] Patel was later mov ed to a jail in Nasik,
and refused a British offer for a brief release to attend the cremation of his brother Vithalbhai, who had died
in October 1933. He was finally released in July 1934.
Patel's position at the highest lev el in the Congress was largely connected with his role from 1934 onwards
(when the Congress abandoned its boy cott of elections) in the party organisation. Based at an apartment in
Mumbai, he became the Congress's main fundraiser and chairman of its Central Parliamentary Board, play ing
the leading role in selecting and financing candidates for the 1934 elections to the Central Legislativ e
Assembly in New Delhi and for the prov incial elections of 1936. [3 7 ] In addition to collecting funds and
selecting candidates, he also determined the Congress's stance on issues and opponents. [3 8 ] Not contesting a
seat for himself, Patel nev ertheless guided Congressmen elected in the prov inces and at the national lev el. In
1935 Patel underwent surgery for haemorrhoids, y et continued to direct efforts against the plague in Bardoli
and again when a drought struck Gujarat in 1939. Patel guided the Congress ministries that had won power
across India with the aim of preserv ing party discipline – Patel feared that the British would take adv antage
of opportunities to create conflict among elected Congressmen, and he did not want the party to be
distracted from the goal of complete independence. [3 9 ] Patel clashed with Nehru, opposing declarations of
the adoption of socialism at the 1936 Congress session, which he believ ed was a div ersion from the main goal
of achiev ing independence. In 1938 Patel organised rank and file opposition to the attempts of then-Congress
president Subhas Chandra Bose to mov e away from Gandhi's principles of non-v iolent resistance. Patel saw
Bose as wanting more power ov er the party . He led senior Congress leaders in a protest that resulted in Bose's
resignation. But criticism arose from Bose's supporters, socialists, and other Congressmen that Patel himself
was acting in an authoritarian manner in his defence of Gandhi's authority .
Legal Battle with Subhas Chandra Bose
Patel's elder brother Vithalbhai Patel, died in Genev a on 22 October 1933. [4 0 ]
Vithalbhai and Bose had been highly critical of Gandhi’s leadership during their trav els in Europe. "By the
time Vithalbhai died in October 1932, Bose had become his primary caregiv er. On his deathbed he left a will
of sorts, bequeathing three-quarters of his money to Bose to use in promoting India’s cause in other
countries. When Patel saw a copy of the letter in which his brother had left a majority of his estate to Bose, he
asked a series of questions: Why was the letter not attested by a doctor? Had the original paper been
preserv ed? Why were the witnesses to that letter all men from Bengal and none of the many other v eteran
freedom activ ists and supporters of the Congress who had been present at Genev a where Vithalbhai had
died? Patel may ev en hav e doubted the v eracity of the signature on the document. The case went to the court
and after a legal battle that lasted more than a y ear, the courts judged that Vithalbhai’s estate could only be
inherited by his legal heirs, that is, his family . Patel promptly handed the money ov er to the Vithalbhai
Memorial Trust."[4 1 ]
Quit India movement

On the outbreak of World War II, Patel supported Nehru's decision to withdraw the Congress from central and
prov incial legislatures, contrary to Gandhi's adv ice, as well as an initiativ e by senior leader Chakrav arthi
Rajagopalachari to offer Congress's full support to Britain if it promised Indian independence at the end of the
war and installed a democratic gov ernment right away . Gandhi had refused to support Britain on the grounds
of his moral opposition to war, while Subhash Chandra Bose was in militant opposition to the British. The
British rejected Rajagopalachari's initiativ e, and Patel embraced Gandhi's leadership again. [4 2 ] He
participated in Gandhi's call for indiv idual disobedience, and was arrested in 1940 and imprisoned for nine
months. He also opposed the proposals of the Cripps' mission in 1942. Patel lost more than twenty pounds
during his period in jail.
While Nehru, Rajagopalachari, and Maulana Azad initially criticised

Gandhi's proposal for an all-out campaign of civ il disobedience to
force the British to quit India, Patel was its most ferv ent supporter.
Arguing that the British would retreat from India as they had from
Singapore and Burma, Patel urged that the campaign start without
any delay . [4 3 ] Though feeling that the British would not leav e
immediately , Patel fav oured an all-out rebellion that would
galv anise the Indian people, who had been div ided in their
response to the war, In Patel's v iew, such a rebellion would force
the British to concede that continuation of colonial rule had no
support in India, and thus speed the transfer of power to
Indians. [4 4 ] Believ ing strongly in the need for rev olt, Patel stated
his intention to resign from the Congress if the rev olt were not Azad, Patel, and Gandhi at an AICC
meeting in Bombay, 1940
approv ed. [4 5 ] Gandhi strongly pressured the All India Congress
Committee to approv e an all-out campaign of civ il disobedience,
and the AICC approv ed the campaign on 7 August 1942. Though Patel's health had suffered during his stint in
jail, he gav e emotional speeches to large crowds across India, [4 6 ] asking them to refuse to pay taxes and to
participate in civ il disobedience, mass protests, and a shutdown of all civ il serv ices. He raised funds and
prepared a second tier of command as a precaution against the arrest of national leaders. [4 7 ] Patel made a
climactic speech to more than 100,000 people gathered at Gowalia Tank in Bombay (Mumbai) on 7 August:
The Gov ernor of Burma boasts in London that they left Burma only after reducing ev ery thing to
dust. So y ou promise the same thing to India? ... Y ou refer in y our radio broadcasts and
newspapers to the gov ernment established in Burma by Japan as a puppet gov ernment? What
sort of gov ernment do y ou hav e in Delhi now?...When France fell before the Nazi onslaught, in
the midst of total war, Mr. Churchill offered union with England to the French. That was indeed a
stroke of inspired statesmanship. But when it comes to India? Oh no! Constitutional changes in
the midst of a war? Absolutely unthinkable ... The objectiv e this time is to free India before the
Japanese can come and be ready to fight them if they come. They will round up the leaders,
round up all. Then it will be the duty of ev ery Indian to put forth his utmost effort—within non-
v iolence. No source is to be left untapped; no weapon untried. This is going to be the
opportunity of a lifetime. [4 8 ]
Historians believ e that Patel's speech was instrumental in electrify ing nationalists, who up to then had been
sceptical of the proposed rebellion. Patel's organising work in this period is credited by historians with
ensuring the success of the rebellion across India. [4 9 ] Patel was arrested on 9 August and was imprisoned
with the entire Congress Working Committee from 1942 to 1945 at the fort in Ahmednagar. Here he spun
cloth, play ed bridge, read a large number of books, took long walks, and practised gardening. He also
prov ided emotional support to his colleagues while awaiting news and dev elopments from the outside. [5 0 ]
Patel was deeply pained at the news of the deaths of Mahadev Desai and Kasturba Gandhi later that y ear. [5 1 ]
But Patel wrote in a letter to his daughter that he and his colleagues were experiencing "fullest peace" for
hav ing done "their duty ". [5 2 ] Ev en though other political parties had opposed the struggle and the British
had employ ed ruthless means of suppression, the Quit India mov ement was "by far the most serious rebellion
since that of 1857 ", as the v iceroy cabled to Winston Churchill. More than 100,000 people were arrested and
many were killed in v iolent struggles with the police. Strikes, protests, and other rev olutionary activ ities had
broken out across India. [5 3 ] When Patel was released on 15 June 1945, he realised that the British were
preparing proposals to transfer power to India.
Integration after Independence and role of Gandhi

As the first Home Minister, Patel play ed the key role in the integration of the princely states into the Indian
federation. [5 4 ] In the elections, the Congress won a large majority of the elected seats, dominating the Hindu
electorate. But the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah won a large majority of Muslim electorate
seats. The League had resolv ed in 1940 to demand Pakistan – an independent state for Muslims – and was a
fierce critic of the Congress. The Congress formed gov ernments in all prov inces sav e Sindh, Punjab, and
Bengal, where it entered into coalitions with other parties.
Cabinet mission and partition

When the British mission proposed two plans for transfer of power, there was considerable opposition within
the Congress to both. The plan of 16 May 1946 proposed a loose federation with extensiv e prov incial
autonomy , and the "grouping" of prov inces based on religious-majority . The plan of 16 May 1946 proposed
the partition of India on religious lines, with ov er 565 princely states free to choose between independence
or accession to either dominion. The League approv ed both plans while the Congress flatly rejected the
proposal of 16 May . Gandhi criticised the 16 May proposal as being inherently div isiv e, but Patel, realising
that rejecting the proposal would mean that only the League would be inv ited to form a gov ernment, lobbied
the Congress Working Committee hard to giv e its assent to the 16 May proposal. Patel engaged the British
env oy s Sir Stafford Cripps and Lord Pethick-Lawrence and obtained an assurance that the "grouping" clause
would not be giv en practical force, Patel conv erted Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, and Rajagopalachari
to accept the plan. When the League retracted its approv al of the 16 May plan, the v iceroy Lord Wav ell
inv ited the Congress to form the gov ernment. Under Nehru, who was sty led the "Vice President of the
Viceroy 's Executiv e Council", Patel took charge of the departments of home affairs and information and
broadcasting. He mov ed into a gov ernment house on Aurangzeb Road in Delhi, which would be his home
until his death in 1950. [5 5 ]
Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the first Congress leaders to accept the partition of India as a solution to the
rising Muslim separatist mov ement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He had been outraged by Jinnah's Direct
Action campaign, which had prov oked communal v iolence across India, and by the v iceroy 's v etoes of his
home department's plans to stop the v iolence on the grounds of constitutionality . Patel sev erely criticised
the v iceroy 's induction of League ministers into the gov ernment, and the rev alidation of the grouping
scheme by the British without Congress's approv al. Although further outraged at the League's boy cott of the
assembly and non-acceptance of the plan of 16 May despite entering gov ernment, he was also aware that
Jinnah did enjoy popular support amongst Muslims, and that an open conflict between him and the
nationalists could degenerate into a Hindu-Muslim civ il war of disastrous consequences. The continuation of
a div ided and weak central gov ernment would, in Patel's mind, result in the wider fragmentation of India by
encouraging more than 600 princely states towards independence. [5 6 ] In December 1946 and January
1947 , Patel worked with civ il serv ant V. P. Menon on the latter's suggestion for a separate dominion of
Pakistan created out of Muslim-majority prov inces. Communal v iolence in Bengal and Punjab in January and
March 1947 further conv inced Patel of the soundness of partition. Patel, a fierce critic of Jinnah's demand
that the Hindu-majority areas of Punjab and Bengal be included in a Muslim state, obtained the partition of
those prov inces, thus blocking any possibility of their inclusion in Pakistan. Patel's decisiv eness on the
partition of Punjab and Bengal had won him many supporters and admirers amongst the Indian public, which
had tired of the League's tactics, but he was criticised by Gandhi, Nehru, secular Muslims, and socialists for a
perceiv ed eagerness to do so. When Lord Louis Mountbatten formally proposed the plan on 3 June 1947 ,
Patel gav e his approv al and lobbied Nehru and other Congress leaders to accept the proposal. Knowing
Gandhi's deep anguish regarding proposals of partition, Patel engaged him in frank discussion in priv ate
meetings ov er what he saw as the practical unworkability of any Congress–League coalition, the rising
v iolence, and the threat of civ il war. At the All India Congress Committee meeting called to v ote on the
proposal, Patel said:
I fully appreciate the fears of our brothers from [the Muslim-majority areas]. Nobody likes the
div ision of India and my heart is heav y . But the choice is between one div ision and many
div isions. We must face facts. We cannot giv e way to emotionalism and sentimentality . The
Working Committee has not acted out of fear. But I am afraid of one thing, that all our toil and
hard work of these many y ears might go waste or prov e unfruitful. My nine months in office has
completely disillusioned me regarding the supposed merits of the Cabinet Mission Plan. Except
for a few honourable exceptions, Muslim officials from the top down to the chaprasis (peons or
serv ants) are working for the League. The communal v eto giv en to the League in the Mission
Plan would hav e blocked India's progress at ev ery stage. Whether we like it or not, de facto
Pakistan already exists in the Punjab and Bengal. Under the circumstances I would prefer a de
jure Pakistan, which may make the League more responsible. Freedom is coming. We hav e 7 5 to
80 percent of India, which we can make strong with our own genius. The League can dev elop
the rest of the country . [5 7 ]
After Gandhi rejected and Congress approv ed – the plan, Patel represented India on the Partition
Council, [5 8 ][5 9 ] where he ov ersaw the div ision of public assets, and selected the Indian council of ministers
with Nehru. [6 0 ] Howev er, neither Patel nor any other Indian leader had foreseen the intense v iolence and
population transfer that would take place with partition. Patel took the lead in organising relief and
emergency supplies, establishing refugee camps, and v isiting the border areas with Pakistani leaders to
encourage peace. Despite these efforts, the death toll is estimated at between 500,000 and 1 million
people. [6 1 ] The estimated number of refugees in both countries exceeds 15 million. [6 2 ] Understanding that
Delhi and Punjab policemen, accused of organising attacks on Muslims, were personally affected by the
tragedies of partition, Patel called out the Indian Army with South Indian regiments to restore order,
imposing strict curfews and shoot-at-sight orders. Visiting the Nizamuddin Auliy a Dargah area in Delhi,
where thousands of Delhi Muslims feared attacks, he pray ed at the shrine, v isited the people, and reinforced
the presence of police. He suppressed from the press reports of atrocities in Pakistan against Hindus and
Sikhs to prev ent retaliatory v iolence. Establishing the Delhi Emergency Committee to restore order and
organising relief efforts for refugees in the capital, Patel publicly warned officials against partiality and
neglect. When reports reached Patel that large groups of Sikhs were preparing to attack Muslim conv oy s
heading for Pakistan, Patel hurried to Amritsar and met Sikh and Hindu leaders. Arguing that attacking
helpless people was cowardly and dishonourable, Patel emphasised that Sikh actions would result in further
attacks against Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. He assured the community leaders that if they worked to
establish peace and order and guarantee the safety of Muslims, the Indian gov ernment would react forcefully
to any failures of Pakistan to do the same. Additionally , Patel addressed a massiv e crowd of approximately
200,000 refugees who had surrounded his car after the meetings:
Here, in this same city , the blood of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims mingled in the bloodbath of
Jallianwala Bagh. I am griev ed to think that things hav e come to such a pass that no Muslim can
go about in Amritsar and no Hindu or Sikh can ev en think of liv ing in Lahore. The butchery of
innocent and defenceless men, women and children does not behov e brav e men ... I am quite
certain that India's interest lies in getting all her men and women across the border and sending
out all Muslims from East Punjab. I hav e come to y ou with a specific appeal. Pledge the safety of
Muslim refugees crossing the city . Any obstacles or hindrances will only worsen the plight of
our refugees who are already performing prodigious feats of endurance. If we hav e to fight, we
must fight clean. Such a fight must await an appropriate time and conditions and y ou must be
watchful in choosing y our ground. To fight against the refugees is no fight at all. No laws of
humanity or war among honourable men permit the murder of people who hav e sought shelter
and protection. Let there be truce for three months in which both sides can exchange their
refugees. This sort of truce is permitted ev en by laws of war. Let us take the initiativ e in
breaking this v icious circle of attacks and counter-attacks. Hold y our hands for a week and see
what happens. Make way for the refugees with y our own force of v olunteers and let them deliv er
the refugees safely at our frontier. [6 3 ]
Following his dialogue with community leaders and his speech, no further attacks occurred against Muslim
refugees, and a wider peace and order was soon re-established ov er the entire area. Howev er, Patel was
criticised by Nehru, secular Muslims, and Gandhi ov er his alleged wish to see Muslims from other parts of
India depart. While Patel v ehemently denied such allegations, the acrimony with Maulana Azad and other
secular Muslim leaders increased when Patel refused to dismiss Delhi's Sikh police commissioner, who was
accused of discrimination. Hindu and Sikh leaders also accused Patel and other leaders of not taking Pakistan
sufficiently to task ov er the attacks on their communities there, and Muslim leaders further criticised him for
allegedly neglecting the needs of Muslims leav ing for Pakistan, and concentrating resources for incoming
Hindu and Sikh refugees. Patel clashed with Nehru and Azad ov er the allocation of houses in Delhi v acated by
Muslims leav ing for Pakistan; Nehru and Azad desired to allocate them for displaced Muslims, while Patel
argued that no gov ernment professing secularism must make such exclusions. Howev er, Patel was publicly
defended by Gandhi and receiv ed widespread admiration and support for speaking frankly on communal
issues and acting decisiv ely and resourcefully to quell disorder and v iolence. [6 4 ]
Political integration of India

Patel took charge of the integration of the princely states into India. [5 4 ] This achiev ement formed the
cornerstone of Patel's popularity in the post-independence era. Ev en today he is remembered as the man
who united India. He is, in this regard, compared to Otto v on Bismarck of Germany , who did the same thing in
the 1860s. Under the plan of 3 June, more than 562 princely states were giv en the option of joining either
India or Pakistan, or choosing independence. Indian nationalists and large segments of the public feared that
if these states did not accede, most of the people and territory would be fragmented. The Congress as well as
senior British officials considered Patel the best man for the task of achiev ing conquest of the princely states
by the Indian dominion. Gandhi had said to Patel, "[T]he problem of the States is so difficult that y ou alone
can solv e it". [6 5 ] Patel was considered a statesman of integrity with the practical acumen and resolv e to
accomplish a monumental task. He asked V. P. Menon, a senior civ il serv ant with whom he had worked on the
partition of India, to become his right-hand man as chief secretary of the States Ministry . On 6 May 1947 ,
Patel began lobby ing the princes, attempting to make them receptiv e towards dialogue with the future
gov ernment and forestall potential conflicts. Patel used social meetings and unofficial surroundings to
engage most of the monarchs, inv iting them to lunch and tea at his home in Delhi. At these meetings, Patel
explained that there was no inherent conflict between the Congress and the princely order. Patel inv oked the
patriotism of India's monarchs, asking them to join in the independence of their nation and act as responsible
rulers who cared about the future of their people. He persuaded the princes of 565 states of the impossibility
of independence from the Indian republic, especially in the presence of growing opposition from their
subjects. He proposed fav ourable terms for the merger, including the creation of privy purses for the rulers'
descendants. While encouraging the rulers to act out of patriotism, Patel did not rule out force. Stressing that
the princes would need to accede to India in good faith, he set a deadline of 15 August 1947 for them to sign
the instrument of accession document. All but three of the states willingly merged into the Indian union; only
Jammu and Kashmir, Junagadh, and Hy derabad did not fall into his basket. [6 6 ]
Junagadh was especially important to Patel, since it was in his home

Somnath temple Restoration
state of Gujarat. It was also important because in this Kathiawar
district was the ultra-rich Somnath temple (which in the 11th
century had been plundered by Mahmud of Ghazni, who damaged
the temple and its idols to rob it of its riches, including emeralds,
diamonds, and gold). Under pressure from Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto,
the Nawab had acceded to Pakistan. It was, howev er, quite far from
Pakistan, and 80% of its population was Hindu. Patel combined
diplomacy with force, demanding that Pakistan annul the accession,
and that the Nawab accede to India. He sent the Army to occupy
Somnath temple ruins, 1869
three principalities of Junagadh to show his resolv e. Following
widespread protests and the formation of a civ il gov ernment, or
Aarzi Hukumat, both Bhutto and the Nawab fled to Karachi, and
under Patel's orders the Indian Army and police units marched into
the state. A plebiscite organised later produced a 99.5% v ote for
merger with India. [6 7 ] In a speech at the Bahauddin College in
Junagadh following the latter's take-ov er, Patel emphasised his
feeling of urgency on Hy derabad, which he felt was more v ital to
India than Kashmir:
Patel ordered Somnath temple
reconstructed in 1948.
If Hy derabad does not see the writing on the wall, it
goes the way Junagadh has gone. Pakistan attempted
to set off Kashmir against Junagadh. When we raised
the question of settlement in a democratic way , they
(Pakistan) at once told us that they would consider it if
we applied that policy to Kashmir. Our reply was that
we would agree to Kashmir if they agreed to
Hy derabad. [6 7 ]
Hy derabad was the largest of the princely states, and it included

parts of present-day Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Hyderabad state in 1909. Its area
Maharashtra states. Its ruler, the Nizam Osman Ali Khan, was a stretched over large parts of the
Muslim, although ov er 80% of its people were Hindu. The Nizam current Indian states of Telangana,
sought independence or accession with Pakistan. Muslim forces Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
loy al to Nizam, called the Razakars, under Qasim Razv i, pressed the
Nizam to hold out against India, while organising attacks on people
on Indian soil. Ev en though a Standstill Agreement was signed due to the desperate efforts of Lord
Mountbatten to av oid a war, the Nizam rejected deals and changed his positions. [6 8 ] In September 1948
Patel emphasised in Cabinet meetings that India should talk no more, and reconciled Nehru and the
Gov ernor-General, Chakrav arti Rajgopalachari, to military action.
Following preparations, Patel ordered the Indian Army to inv ade
Hy derabad (in his capacity as Acting Prime Minister) when Nehru
was touring Europe. [6 9 ] The action was termed Operation Polo, and
thousands of Razakar forces were killed, but Hy derabad was
forcefully secured and integrated into the Indian Union. [7 0 ] The
main aim of Mountbatten and Nehru in av oiding a forced
annexation was to prev ent an outbreak of Hindu–Muslim v iolence.
Patel insisted that if Hy derabad were allowed to continue as an
independent nation enclav e surrounded by India, the prestige of British Indian Empire in 1909
the gov ernment would fall, and then neither Hindus nor Muslims
would feel secure in its realm. After defeating Nizam, Patel retained
him as the ceremonial chief of state, and held talks with him. [7 1 ] There were 562 princely states in India
which Sardar Patel integrated.
Leading India
The Gov ernor-General of India, Chakrav arti Rajagopalachari, along with Nehru and Patel, formed the
"triumv irate" that ruled India from 1948 to 1950. Prime Minister Nehru was intensely popular with the
masses, but Patel enjoy ed the loy alty and the faith of rank and file Congressmen, state leaders, and India's
civ il serv ants. Patel was a senior leader in the Constituent Assembly of India and was responsible in large
measure for shaping India's constitution. [7 2 ]
Patel was the chairman of the committees responsible for minorities, tribal and excluded areas, fundamental
rights, and prov incial constitutions. Patel piloted a model constitution for the prov inces in the Assembly ,
which contained limited powers for the state gov ernor, who would defer to the president – he clarified it was
not the intention to let the gov ernor exercise power that could impede an elected gov ernment. [7 2 ] He
worked closely with Muslim leaders to end separate electorates and the more potent demand for reserv ation
of seats for minorities. [7 3 ] His interv ention was key to the passage of two articles that protected civ il
serv ants from political inv olv ement and guaranteed their terms and priv ileges. [7 2 ] He was also instrumental
in the founding the Indian Administrativ e Serv ice and the Indian Police Serv ice, and for his defence of Indian
civ il serv ants from political attack; he is known as the "patron saint" of India's serv ices. When a delegation of
Gujarati farmers came to him citing their inability to send their milk production to the markets without being
fleeced by intermediaries, Patel exhorted them to organise the processing and sale of milk by themselv es,
and guided them to create the Kaira District Co-operativ e Milk Producers' Union Limited, which preceded the
Amul milk products brand. Patel also pledged the reconstruction of the ancient but dilapidated Somnath
Temple in Saurashtra. He ov ersaw the restoration work and the creation of a public trust, and pledged to
dedicate the temple upon the completion of work (the work was completed after his death and the temple was
inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad).
When the Pakistani inv asion of Kashmir began in September 1947 , Patel immediately wanted to send troops
into Kashmir. But, agreeing with Nehru and Mountbatten, he waited until Kashmir's monarch had acceded to
India. Patel then ov ersaw India's military operations to secure Srinagar and the Baramulla Pass, and the
forces retriev ed much territory from the inv aders. Patel, along with Defence Minister Baldev Singh,
administered the entire military effort, arranging for troops from different parts of India to be rushed to
Kashmir and for a major military road connecting Srinagar to Pathankot to be built in six months. [7 4 ] Patel
strongly adv ised Nehru against going for arbitration to the United Nations, insisting that Pakistan had been
wrong to support the inv asion and the accession to India was v alid. He did not want foreign interference in a
bilateral affair. Patel opposed the release of Rs. 550 million to the Gov ernment of Pakistan, conv inced that
the money would go to finance the war against India in Kashmir. The Cabinet had approv ed his point but it
was rev ersed when Gandhi, who feared an intensify ing riv alry and further communal v iolence, went on a fast-
unto-death to obtain the release. Patel, though not estranged from Gandhi, was deeply hurt at the rejection of
his counsel and a Cabinet decision. [7 5 ] Gandhi was assassinated as a result of his fast.
In 1949 a crisis arose when the number of Hindu refugees entering West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura from
East Pakistan climbed to ov er 800,000. The refugees in many cases were being forcibly ev icted by Pakistani
authorities, and were v ictims of intimidation and v iolence. [7 6 ] Nehru inv ited Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime
Minister of Pakistan, to find a peaceful solution. Despite his av ersion, Patel reluctantly met Khan and
discussed the matter. Patel strongly criticised Nehru's plan to sign a pact that would create minority
commissions in both countries and pledge both India and Pakistan to a commitment to protect each other's
minorities. [7 7 ] Sy ama Prasad Mookerjee and K. C. Neogy , two Bengali ministers, resigned, and Nehru was
intensely criticised in West Bengal for allegedly appeasing Pakistan. The pact was immediately in jeopardy .
Patel, howev er, publicly came to Nehru's aid. He gav e emotional speeches to members of Parliament, and the
people of West Bengal, and spoke with scores of delegations of Congressmen, Hindus, Muslims, and other
public interest groups, persuading them to giv e peace a final effort. [7 8 ]
In April 2015 the Gov ernment of India declassified surv eillance reports suggesting that Patel, while Home
Minister, and Nehru were among officials inv olv ed in alleged gov ernment-authorised spy ing on the family of
Subhas Chandra Bose. [7 9 ]
Father of All India Services

He was also instrumental in the creation of the All India Serv ices which he
There is no alternative to
described as the country ’s "Steel Frame". In his address to the probationers
this administrative
of these serv ices, he asked them to be guided by the spirit of serv ice in day - system... The Union will
to-day administration. He reminded them that the ICS was no longer go, you will not have a
neither Imperial, nor civ il, nor imbued with any spirit of serv ice after united India if you do not
Independence. His exhortation to the probationers to maintain utmost
have good All-India
Service which has the
impartiality and incorruptibility of administration is as relev ant today as it independence to speak
was then. "A civ il serv ant cannot afford to, and must not, take part in out its mind, which has
politics. Nor must he inv olv e himself in communal wrangles. To depart sense of security that you
from the path of rectitude in either of these respects is to debase public will standby your work...
If you do not adopt this
serv ice and to lower its dignity ," he had cautioned them on 21 April
course, then do not follow
1947 . [8 3 ] the present Constitution.
Substitute something
He, more than any one else in post-independence India, realised the crucial else... these people are the
role that civ il serv ices play in administering a country , in not merely instrument. Remove them
maintaining law and order, but running the institutions that prov ide the and I see nothing but a
picture of chaos all over
binding cement to a society . He, more than any other contemporary of his, the country.
was aware of the needs of a sound, stable administrativ e structure as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,
ly nchpin of a functioning polity . The present-day all-India administrativ e in Constituent Assembly
serv ices owe their origin to the man’s sagacity and thus he is regarded as discussing the role of All
Father of modern All India Serv ices. [8 4 ] India
Serv ices. [80][81][82]
Gandhi's death and relations with

Nehru
Rajmohan Gandhi, in his book writes that Nehru was focused on maintaining religious harmony , casting an
independent foreign policy , and constructing a technological and industrial base, while Patel focused on
getting the princely states to join the Indian Union, modernising the administrativ e serv ices, and
constructing a cross-party consensus on the significant elements of the Constitution. [8 5 ]
Patel was intensely loy al to Gandhi, and both he and Nehru looked to him to arbitrate disputes. Howev er,
Nehru and Patel sparred ov er national issues. [8 6 ] When Nehru asserted control ov er Kashmir policy , Patel
objected to Nehru's sidelining his home ministry 's officials. [8 7 ] Nehru was offended by Patel's decision-
making regarding the states' integration, hav ing consulted neither him nor the Cabinet. Patel asked Gandhi to
reliev e him of his obligation to serv e, believ ing that an open political battle would hurt India. After much
personal deliberation and contrary to Patel's prediction, Gandhi on 30 January 1948 told Patel not to leav e
the gov ernment. A free India, according to Gandhi, needed both Patel and Nehru. Patel was the last man to
priv ately talk with Gandhi, who was assassinated just minutes after Patel's departure. [8 8 ] At Gandhi's wake,
Nehru and Patel embraced each other and addressed the nation together. Patel gav e solace to many
associates and friends and immediately mov ed to forestall any possible v iolence. [8 9 ] Within two months of
Gandhi's death, Patel suffered a major heart attack; the timely action of his daughter, his secretary , and a
nurse sav ed Patel's life. Speaking later, Patel attributed the attack to the "grief bottled up" due to Gandhi's
death. [9 0 ]
Criticism arose from the media and other politicians that Patel's home ministry had failed to protect Gandhi.
Emotionally exhausted, Patel tendered a letter of resignation, offering to leav e the gov ernment. Patel's
secretary persuaded him to withhold the letter, seeing it as fodder for Patel's political enemies and political
conflict in India. [9 1 ] Howev er, Nehru sent Patel a letter dismissing any question of personal differences or
desire for Patel's ouster. He reminded Patel of their 30-y ear partnership in the independence struggle and
asserted that after Gandhi's death, it was especially wrong for them to quarrel. Nehru, Rajagopalachari, and
other Congressmen publicly defended Patel. Mov ed, Patel publicly endorsed Nehru's leadership and refuted
any suggestion of discord, and dispelled any notion that he sought to be prime minister. [9 1 ]
Nehru gav e Patel a free hand in integrating the princely states into India. [5 4 ] Though the two committed
themselv es to joint leadership and non-interference in Congress party affairs, they sometimes would criticise
each other in matters of policy , clashing on the issues of Hy derabad's integration and UN mediation in
Kashmir. Nehru declined Patel's counsel on sending assistance to Tibet after its 1950 inv asion by the People's
Republic of China and on ejecting the Portuguese from Goa by military force. [9 2 ] Nehru also tried to scuttle
Patel's plan with regards to Hy derabad. During a meeting, according to the then civ il serv ant MKK Nair in his
book With No Ill Feeling to Anybody, Nehru shouted and accused Patel of being a communalist. Patel also
one on occasion called Nehru, a Maulana, for appeasing Muslims. [9 3 ]
When Nehru pressured Rajendra Prasad to decline a nomination to become the first President of India in
1950 in fav our of Rajagopalachari, he angered the party , which felt Nehru was attempting to impose his will.
Nehru sought Patel's help in winning the party ov er, but Patel declined, and Prasad was duly elected. Nehru
opposed the 1950 Congress presidential candidate Purushottam Das Tandon, a conserv ativ e Hindu leader,
endorsing Jiv atram Kripalani instead and threatening to resign if Tandon was elected. Patel rejected Nehru's
v iews and endorsed Tandon in Gujarat, where Kripalani receiv ed not one v ote despite hailing from that state
himself. [9 4 ] Patel believ ed Nehru had to understand that his will was not law with the Congress, but he
personally discouraged Nehru from resigning after the latter felt that the party had no confidence in him. [9 5 ]
On 29 March 1949 authorities lost radio contact with a plane carry ing Patel, his daughter Maniben, and the
Maharaja of Patiala. Engine failure caused the pilot to make an emergency landing in a desert area in
Rajasthan. With all passengers safe, Patel and others tracked down a nearby v illage and local officials. When
Patel returned to Delhi, thousands of Congressmen gav e him a resounding welcome. In Parliament, MPs gav e
a long standing ov ation to Patel, stopping proceedings for half an hour. [9 6 ]
In his twilight y ears, Patel was honoured by members of Parliament. He was awarded honorary doctorates of
law by Nagpur Univ ersity , the Univ ersity of Allahabad and Banaras Hindu Univ ersity in Nov ember 1948,
subsequently receiv ing honorary doctorates from Osmania Univ ersity in February 1949 and from Punjab
Univ ersity in March 1949. [9 7 ][9 8 ] Prev iously , Patel had been featured on the cov er page of the January
1947 issue of Time magazine. [9 9 ]
Death
Patel's health declined rapidly through the summer of 1950. He later began coughing blood, whereupon
Maniben began limiting her meetings and working hours and arranged for a personalised medical staff to
begin attending to Patel. The Chief Minister of West Bengal and doctor Bidhan Roy heard Patel make jokes
about his impending end, and in a priv ate meeting Patel frankly admitted to his ministerial colleague N. V.
Gadgil that he was not going to liv e much longer. Patel's health worsened after 2 Nov ember, when he began
losing consciousness frequently and was confined to his bed. He was flown to Bombay (now Mumbai) on 12
December on adv ice from Dr Roy , to recuperate as his condition was deemed critical. [1 0 0 ] Nehru,
Rajagopalchari, Rajendra Prasad, and Menon all came to see him off at the airport in Delhi. Patel was
extremely weak and had to be carried onto the aircraft in a chair. In Bombay , large crowds gathered at
Santacruz Airport to greet him. To spare him from this stress, the aircraft landed at Juhu Aerodrome, where
Chief Minister B. G. Kher and Morarji Desai were present to receiv e him with a car belonging to the Gov ernor
of Bombay that took Vallabhbhai to Birla House. [1 0 1 ][1 0 2 ]
After suffering a massiv e heart attack (his second), Patel died on 15 December 1950 at Birla House in
Bombay . [1 0 3 ] In an unprecedented and unrepeated gesture, on the day after his death more than 1,500
officers of India's civ il and police serv ices congregated to mourn at Patel's residence in Delhi and pledged
"complete loy alty and unremitting zeal" in India's serv ice. [1 0 4 ] Numerous gov ernments and world leaders
sent messages of condolence upon Patel's death, including Try gv e Lie, the Secretary -General of the United
Nations, President Sukarno of Indonesia, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan and Prime Minister
Clement Attlee of the United Kingdom. [1 0 5 ]
In homage to Patel, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared a week of national mourning. [1 0 6 ] Patel's
cremation was planned at Girgaum Chowpatty , but this was changed to Sonapur (now Marine Lines) when his
daughter conv ey ed that it was his wish to be cremated like a common man in the same place as his wife and
brother were earlier cremated. K.M Munshi wrote in his book that after Patel's death Nehru ‘issued a
direction to the Ministers and the Secretaries not to go to Bombay to attend the funeral. Jawaharlal also
requested Dr. Rajendra Prasad not to go to Bombay ; it was a strange request to which Rajendra Prasad did
not accede.’. [1 0 7 ][1 0 8 ] His cremation in Sonapur in Bombay was attended by a crowd of one million
including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajagopalachari and President Rajendra Prasad. [1 0 2 ][1 0 9 ][1 1 0 ]
Reception
During his lifetime, Vallabhbhai Patel receiv ed criticism for an
alleged bias against Muslims during the time of Partition. He was
criticised by Maulana Azad and others for readily supporting
partition. [1 1 1 ] Guha say s that, during the Partition, Nehru wanted
the gov ernment to make the Muslims stay back and feel secure in
India while Patel was inclined to place that responsibility on the
indiv iduals themselv es. Patel also told Nehru that the minority also
had to remov e the doubts that were entertained about their loy alty
based on their past association with the demand of Pakistan. [1 1 2 ]
Howev er, Patel successfully prev ented attacks upon a train of
Muslim refugees leav ing India. [1 1 3 ] In September 1947 he was said
to hav e had ten thousand Muslims sheltered safely in the Red Fort
and had free kitchens opened for them during the communal
v iolence. [1 1 4 ] Patel was also said to be more forgiv ing of Indian
nationalism and harsher on Pakistan. [1 1 5 ] He exposed a riot plot,
confiscated a large haul of weapons from the Delhi Jumma Masjid,
and had a few plotters killed by the police, but his approach was
said to hav e been harsh. [1 1 4 ] The coat of Patel, on display at the
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National
Patel was also criticised by supporters of Subhas Chandra Bose for Memorial, Ahmedabad
acting coerciv ely to put down politicians not supportiv e of
Gandhi. [1 1 6 ] Socialist politicians such as Jay a Prakash Naray an and
Asoka Mehta criticised him for his personal proximity to Indian industrialists such as the Birla and Sarabhai
families. It is said that Patel was friendly towards capitalists while Nehru believ ed in the state controlling the
economy . [1 1 5 ] Also, Patel was more inclined to support the West in the emerging Cold War. [1 1 5 ]
Nehru and Patel

Patel had long been the riv al of Nehru for party leadership, but Nehru usually prev ailed ov er the older man,
who died in 1950. [8 6 ] Subsequently , J. R. D. Tata, the Industrialist, Maulana Azad and sev eral others
expressed the opinion that Patel would hav e made a better Prime Minister for India than Nehru. [1 1 7 ] These
Patel admirers and Nehru's critics cite Nehru's belated embrace of Patel's adv ice regarding the UN and
Kashmir and the integration of Goa by military action and Nehru's rejection of Patel's adv ice on China. [1 1 8 ]
Proponents of free enterprise cite the failings of Nehru's socialist policies as opposed to Patel's defence of
property rights and his mentorship of what was to be later known as the Amul co-operativ e
project. [1 1 9 ][1 2 0 ] Howev er, A. G. Noorani, in comparing Nehru and Patel, writes that Nehru had a broader
understanding of the world than Patel. [1 2 1 ]
Historian Rajmohan Gandhi argues:
Patel the realist was home minister and deputy premier, Nehru the visionary was premier
and foreign minister. The two constituted a formidable pair. Patel represented Indian
nationalism’s Hindu face, Nehru India’s secular and also global face. Their partnership,
necessary and fruitful for the country, was a solemn commitment that each made to the
other.[122]
Legacy
In his eulogy , deliv ered the day after Patel's death, Sir Girija
Shankar Bajpai, the Secretary -General of the Ministry of External
Affairs, paid tribute to "a great patriot, a great administrator and a
great man. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was all three, a rare
combination in any historic epoch and in any country ."[9 7 ] Bajpai
lauded Patel for his achiev ements as a patriot and as an
administrator, notably his v ital role in securing India's stability in
the aftermath of Independence and Partition:
The central hall of the Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial
...History holds many examples of the fruits of
freedom squandered by lack of attention to stability
and order, the twin foundations of society . Though a
rev olutionary in his fight against foreign rule, Sardar
Patel was no believ er in abrupt or v iolent change;
progress by ev olution was really his motto. And so,
although in August 1947 power changed hands, and
with it the spirit of the administration, the machinery
of Gov ernment was preserv ed. As Home Minister and
Minister for States, the Sardar had a double task,
conserv ativ e in the good sense of the word, in what
had been Prov inces in the old India, creativ e in the
Indian States. Neither was easy . To the ordinary
stresses of a transition caused by the withdrawal of
trained personnel which had wielded all power for a
hundred y ears was added the strain of partition, and
the immense human upheav als and suffering that
followed it. The fate of our new State hung in the
balance during those perilous months when millions
mov ed across the new frontiers under conditions
which are still v iv id—indeed, too v iv id—in our
memories, and therefore, need not be described. That
despite some oscillation the scales stay ed steady was
due not only to the faith of the people in its leaders,
but to the firm will and strong hand of the new Home
Minister. [9 7 ]
Among Patel's surv iv ing family , Maniben Patel liv ed in a flat in Mumbai for the rest of her life following her
father's death; she often led the work of the Sardar Patel Memorial Trust, which organises the prestigious
annual Sardar Patel Memorial Lectures, and other charitable organisations. Dahy abhai Patel was a
businessman who was elected to serv e in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian Parliament) as an MP
in the 1960s. [1 2 3 ]
For many decades after his death, there was a perceiv ed lack of effort from the Gov ernment of India, the
national media, and the Congress party regarding commemoration of Patel's life and work. [1 2 4 ] Patel was
posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civ ilian honour, in 1991. [1 2 5 ] It was announced in
2014 that his birthday , 31 October, would become an annual national celebration known as Rashtriy a Ekta
Diwas (National Unity Day ). [1 2 6 ] In 2012, Patel was ranked third in Outlook India's poll of the Greatest
Indian. [1 2 7 ]
Patel's family home in Karamsad is preserv ed in his memory . [1 2 8 ] The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National
Memorial in Ahmedabad was established in 1980 at the Moti Shahi Mahal. It comprises a museum, a gallery
of portraits and historical pictures, and a library containing important documents and books associated with
Patel and his life. Amongst the exhibits are many of Patel's personal effects and relics from v arious periods of
his personal and political life. [1 2 9 ]
Patel is the namesake of many public institutions in India. A major initiativ e to build dams, canals, and
hy droelectric power plants in the Narmada riv er v alley to prov ide a tri-state area with drinking water and
electricity and to increase agricultural production was named the Sardar Sarovar. Patel is also the namesake
of the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology in Surat, Sardar Patel Univ ersity , Sardar Patel
High School, and the Sardar Patel Vidy alay a, which are among the nation's premier institutions. India's
national police training academy is also named after him. [1 3 0 ]
The international airport of Ahmedabad is named after him. Also the international cricket stadium of
Ahmedabad (also known as the Motera Stadium) is named after him. A national cricket stadium in
Nav rangpura, Ahmedabad, used for national matches and ev ents, is also named after him. The chief outer
ring road encircling Ahmedabad is named S P Ring Road. The Gujarat gov ernment's institution for training
gov ernment functionaries is named Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration.
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas
Rashtriy a Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day ) was introduced by the Gov ernment of India and inaugurated by
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. The intent is to pay tribute to Patel, who was instrumental in
keeping India united. It is to be celebrated on 31 October ev ery y ear as annual commemoration of the
birthday of the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of the founding leaders of Republic of India.
The official statement for Rashtriy a Ekta Diwas by the Home Ministry of India cites that the National Unity
Day "will prov ide an opportunity to re-affirm the inherent strength and resilience of our nation to withstand
the actual and potential threats to the unity , integrity and security of our country ."[1 3 1 ]
National Unity Day celebrates the birthday of Patel because, during his term as Home Minister of India, he is
credited for the integration of ov er 550 independent princely states into India from 1947 –49 by
Independence Act (1947 ). He is known as the "Bismarck[a ] of India". [1 3 2 ][1 3 3 ] The celebration is
complemented with the speech of Prime Minister of India followed by the "Run for Unity ". [8 ] The theme for
2016 celebrations was "Integration of India". [1 3 4 ]
Statue of Unity
The Statue of Unity is a monument dedicated to Patel, located in the
Indian state of Gujarat, facing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away from
Sadhu Bet near Vadodara. At the height of 182 metres (597 feet), it
is the world's tallest statue, exceeding the Spring Temple Buddha by
54 meters. [1 3 5 ] This statue and related structures are spread ov er
20000 square meters and are surrounded by an artificial lake
spread across 12 km and cost an estimated 29.8 billion rupees
Sardar Vallabhai Patel Statue of
($425m). [1 3 5 ] It was inaugurated by India's Prime Minister Unity in Gujarat, India
Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018, the 143rd anniv ersary of
Patel's birth.
Other institutions and monuments

Patel statue at Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel Chowk,
Katra Gulab Singh,
Pratapgarh[b]
Sardar Patel Memorial Trust

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial, Ahmedabad
Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat
Sardar Patel University, Gujarat
Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, Jodhpur
Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad
Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad
Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai
Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Mumbai
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Chowk in Katra Gulab Singh, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad
Sardar Patel Stadium
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology
Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute
Statue of Unity[136]
In popular media
1947: Patel was featured on the cover of Time magazine.[137]
1976: Kantilal Rathod directed a documentary on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
1982: In Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), actor Saeed Jaffrey portrayed Patel.
1989: In a satirical novel The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor, the character of Vidur Hastinapuri is
simultaneously based on Patel as well as the mythological character Vidura.
1993: The biopic Sardar was produced and directed by Ketan Mehta and featured noted Indian actor Paresh
Rawal as Patel; it focused on Patel's leadership in the years leading up to independence, the partition of India,
India's political integration and Patel's relationship with Gandhi and Nehru. The film was screened retrospectively
on 12 August 2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film
Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating the 70th Indian Independence Day.[138]
2000: Arun Sadekar plays Patel in Hey Ram – a film made by Kamal Haasan.
See also
List of civil rights leaders
Notes
a. Otto von Bismarck was known for the 1871 unification of Germany.
b. Statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel is about 182 meters and located dancing the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km away on
the river island called Bet near Vadodara in Gujarat.
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Further reading
Krishna, Balraj. India's Bismarck , Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Indus Source, 2007).
Kumar, Ravindra. Life and Work of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1991).
Patel, I. J., Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1985) online (https://archive.org/details/sardarvallabhbha00pate)
Spodek, Howard. "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at 100." Economic and Political Week ly (1975): 1925-1936. online
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/40740155)
Primary sources
Patel, Vallabhbhai, and Pran Nath Chopra. The Collected Work s of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (2 vol Konark
Publishers, 1991).
Life and work of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (https://archive.org/stream/lifework ofsardar00sagguoft#page/n5/mod
e/2up), ed . Parshottam Das Saggi, Foreword by C. Rajagopalachari. Overseas Publishing House, Bombay.
External links
Sardar Patel (http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe1098/f1510981.html) National Informatics Centre
Operation Polo (https://web.archive.org/web/20051127054521/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MONITOR/ISSUE
2-3/lns.html) Bharat Rakshak.com
Sardar Patel (https://web.archive.org/web/20060507173131/http://sarvadharma.org/Museum/heroes/sardarpatel.
htm) at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 May 2006) Sarvadharma.org
Sardar Patel – Builder of a steel strong India (http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe1098/f1510981.html) Press
Information Bureau, Government of India
Party political offices
President of the Indian National

Preceded by Succeeded by
Congress
Jawaharlal Nehru Madan Mohan Malaviya
1931
Political offices
Deputy Prime Minister of India Succeeded by

1947–1950 Morarji Desai
New office
Minister of Home Affairs Succeeded by
1947–1950 Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
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Vallabhbhai Jhav erbhai Patel [1 ][2 ] (31 October 187 5 – 15

Notes Personal details

References Born Vallabhbhai

Patel practised law in Godhra, Borsad, and Anand while taking on

Fight for self-rule

liberties. It adv ocated the establishment of a secular nation with a

Quit India movement

While Nehru, Rajagopalachari, and Maulana Azad initially criticised

Integration after Independence and role of Gandhi

Cabinet mission and partition

Political integration of India

Junagadh was especially important to Patel, since it was in his home

Hy derabad was the largest of the princely states, and it included

Father of All India Services

Gandhi's death and relations with

Nehru and Patel

Historian Rajmohan Gandhi argues:

Other institutions and monuments

Sardar Patel Memorial Trust

President of the Indian National

Deputy Prime Minister of India Succeeded by

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vallabhbhai_Patel&oldid=922203476"

This page was last edited on 20 October 2019, at 17:11 (UTC).

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