Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a towering figure in the Independence movement and the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister after 1947. Often called the ‘Iron Man of India’, Patel was instrumental in unifying over 500 princely states into the Indian Union, laying the groundwork for a cohesive nation.
As a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, Patel held various influential positions, including the chairmanship of the Congress’s Parliamentary Board.
He was a successful lawyer. And one of MK Gandhi’s earliest political lieutenants. He began his public life in local government and gained recognition through his leadership in Gujarat, particularly during the Bardoli Satyagraha, where his success in championing the farmers’ cause earned him the title ‘Sardar’. As Home Minister, Patel oversaw efforts to integrate states into the union and establish India’s civil services, leaving an enduring legacy on India’s administrative and political framework.
No need to imagine what Patel’s grave is thinking about this. This will strengthen national unity and remind the nation about a great leader who united India only to be forgotten later in favor of “the dynasty”. I don’t think naming some largely unknown institutes like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) is enough of a tribute to a great leader like Sardar. Especially considering the naming of:
1. JNU (Delhi – capital of India),
2. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM),
3. Jawaharlal Nehru Port
4. Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML)
5. Indira Gandhi International Airport
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_things_named_after_Indira_Gandhi
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhi#Institutions_named_after_Gandhi
I am a great admirer of both Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, roughly in that order. [ To move closer to the present, there was a similar dichotomy between Vajpayeeji and Mr L K Advani, although few would place the latter in the true Iron Man’s class. ] However, whatever may have been the relative contributions of the two men to the freedom struggle and the creation of a modern Republic, they were a natural fit, complemented each other’s strengths. There must certainly have been a clash of personal ambitions, but that is buried in history. Not a fire that can now be lit. Even more important, how far these personalities can be stirred up for adding spice to an electoral battle is questionable. Observe how swiftly the fizz subsided from the eternal controversy of Netaji’s death, which was thought to be a relevant issue during the last election in Bengal. My heart tells me 2019 will be a very here and now, rooted in the present election.
It is Statute to score brownie point against Congress, Patel would be grieving in his grave for this act of Idiocracy of Modi and his government. The SVPNPA in Hyderabad established in memory of India’s first Home Minister has been sending out IPS officers for many years, probably Modiji is not aware of the institute playing crucial role.