06

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was instrumental in unifying the princely states to form the Union of India. For his fearless approach and stern appearance, Sardar Patel was regarded as the Iron man of India.

Along with this, Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the great social and political leaders of India. He played a crucial role during the freedom struggle of India, and he was instrumental in the integration of over 500 princely states into the Indian Union. Despite the choice of the people, on the request of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stepped down from the candidacy of the Congress President who had to lead the country as the First Prime Minister in 1946.

Life

Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Karamsad village of Gujarat to Jhaverbhai and Ladba. His father Jhaverbhai Patel had served in the army of the Queen of Jhansi while his mother was a Very spiritual woman.

Starting his primary education in a Gujarati medium school Vallabhbhai Patel joined another English medium school and finally in the year 1897, he passed his high school examination and started preparing for law examination. He passed it and started practicing in Godhra. In 1910 Vallabhbhai Patel went to England to study law. He completed his law studies in 1913 and came back to India and started his law practice in Ahmedabad. For his excellencies in law, Vallabhbhai was offered many lucrative posts by the British Government, but he rejected all. He was a staunch opponent of the British Government and its laws and, therefore, he decided not to work for the British.

He later settled at Ahmedabad. After a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi at the Gujarat Club Vallabhbhai Patel got influenced by his words, further inspired by Gandhi’s work and his and became a staunch follower of the Mahatma.

National Liberation Movement

In 1917, Sardar Vallabhbhai was elected as the Secretary of the Gujarat Sabha. The next year, when there was a flood in Kheda and its neighbouring districts and the British Government insisted on collecting tax from the farmers, Vallabhbhai Patel successfully led a massive Movement there under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He led a ‘No Tax campaign’ in Bardoli in 1928 that urged the farmers not to pay the increased unjust land revenue. The peaceful, non-violent and planned  Satyagraha of the eighty-seven thousand farmers bent upon making any kind of sacrifice, which forced the British Authorities not only to withdraw their decision of increased land revenue, but also to return back the land to farmers confiscated during the Satyagraha, after a decade. Vallabhbhai’s efforts of bringing farmers of the area together and especially the awakening among women brought him the title of the SARDAR.  

Along with successfully leading Satyagrahas in Kheda and Bardoli, Vallabhbhai was elected Chairman  of the Ahmedabad Municipally in 1924. He became the President of the Indian National Congress in its Session held in Karachi 1931. It was the Karachi Session of the Indian National Congress in which the Party committed itself to defend fundamental rights of the countrymen, human rights of the people around the world and a dream of India, a nation for all.

 Before that, in 1930 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was imprisoned for playing a leading role in awakening the masses for the world-renowned Salt Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi. His inspiring speeches during the Civil Disobedience Movement transformed the lives of numerous people, who later played a major role in making the movement successful. From one of the addresses of Sardar Patel at Ahmedabad, which he immediately made after his release from the Sabarmati Jail on June 26, 1930, “Looking at the present as I do, the future appears to me to be full of hope…Now It is for you to demonstrate that your present enthusiasm is not simply momentary, that it is not like a tide that ebbs after a while and that it is the fruit of the harshest pounce of that most powerful saint of Sabarmati for a period of over twelve years. Many advised me today, just after my release, that I should not make a speech lest I should be arrested. There are some who do not even approve of my coming to your meeting. Why should we worry about the prisons of a mere Government as long as we allow ourselves to be imprisoned by the fetters of maya? Our souls are prisoners of infatuation and illusion, desire and anger, and it is that prison we should fear most. No empire on earth, however mighty, can keep in bondage the one who had of one’s own accord broken the fetters of maya.”

In 1934, as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Board, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel led the all-India election campaign for the Indian National Congress. Though he did not contest a seat for himself, Sardar Patel helped his fellow party mates during the election and got unprecedented success.

Influence of Gandhi

While senior leaders including Motilal Nehru, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and CR Das criticized Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent ideas to compel the British to leave India, Vallabhbhai Patel always extended his support to him. Despite the unwillingness of several members of the Congress High Command, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel strongly forced the All-India Congress Committee to ratify the Gandhian way of Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience.

One important episode that could change the political lines of the country had shaped up just a year of attaining independence. During the election for the Congress President in 1946, twelve of the sixteen states proposed Sardar Patel’s name for the post. It was a very crucial election, as the elected president of the congress party would be later considered as the First Prime Minister of India. Just a few days before the all-important elections, Mahatma Gandhi requested Sardar Patel to withdraw his name and support Jawaharlal Nehru. Sardar Patel, without pondering twice, stepped down.

Integration of Princely States                 

Sardar Patel, as mentioned already, became the First Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India after its freedom from the foreign rule and he played a key role in the political integration of the country.

At the time of the independence, Indian Territory was divided into three parts. First, the territories under the direct control of the British Government, second were the territories over which the hereditary rulers had suzerainty. The regions, which had been colonized by France and Portugal, formed the last. India, without the integration of these different territories under one roof, could not be considered as a unified and total country. It was a stupendous task for the ruling party to persuade the rulers of these states to join the Indian Union. According to the British Government, the rulers of princely States had the liberty to choose how they wanted to be ruled. They were given two choices. They could join either India and Pakistan or stay independently. The stance of the British Government had made the task much more difficult for India. At this point many leaders of the Congress approached the rulers, but they failed to convince them. At last, they all made a request to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to think of some other options to bring the princely rulers under the Indian Union. Sardar Patel eventually dealt with the tough-situation and came out successfully. He had secured their accession. Therefore, the State of India we see today was a result of untiring efforts put in by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s health declined in 1950. He himself realized that he was not going to live much longer. On November 2, 1950 his health deteriorated further and was confined to bed. After suffering a massive heart attack on December 15, 1950, the great soul left the world.

Our country needed a strong leader like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a Man of Iron Will. He was a very respected leader of the country. He should be worshipped as a Sardar of farmers, a matchless social reformer, and the Maker of United India.