Whenever the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel comes, together a question is attached. For centuries, the question has been troubling especially the non-Congress class of the country, who had the right to be the first Prime Minister of the country? According to many people, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel should have been the first Prime Minister of India but Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru got this opportunity. People hold Mahatma Gandhi responsible for this, for which there are many legitimate reasons.
Today is the 145th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Prime Minister also addressed the nation from Gujrat on this occasion. On the Patel Jayanti, that topic again came under discussion. Actress Kangana Ranaut surprised people by commenting on her Twitter on Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Her tweets are constantly going viral on social media.
Kangna Ranaut’s 3 consecutive tweets
On the occasion of Patel Jayanti, Kangana wrote, “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel left India’s first Prime Ministerial post, for which he was elected and qualified, just to please Mahatma Gandhi. Because Gandhiji thought that Nehru speaks good English. Not only Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel but the entire nation has suffered for decades for this decision. We should shamelessly take back what is officially ours.”
In the second tweet, Kangana wrote that “Sardar Patel was the true iron man of India. I think that Gandhiji wanted a man of weak mind, which he could easily control and run the nation by keeping him in the homefront. It was a good plan, but whatever happened after Gandhi’s assassination was a big tragedy.”
In her third tweet, Kangana said that “Happy anniversary to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India. You are the man who gave us a united India but you took your great leadership and vision away from us by sacrificing your position as a Prime Minister. We deeply regret your decision.”
Was Patel able to become Prime Minister because of Gandhi?
With the news of India’s independence, all eyes were on the post of Congress president. Because it was almost certain that the one who would become the President of the Congress would also be elected to the post of Prime Minister of India. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was holding the post of President of the Congress due to no electrical process of the President for 6 years. He also wanted to participate in the 1946 Congress presidential election but had to give up the idea after Mahatma Gandhi refused it. With Maulana Azad’s refusal, Gandhi made it clear that his support was with Nehru.
April 29, 1946, was the last date for filing nominations for the post of president. Nehru was not supported by the Congress Committee of the state even after Gandhi’s support. Not only this, about 12 out of 15 states proposed Sardar Patel as the President of Congress, which was enough to make Patel the President of the Congress and the first Prime Minister of the country.
Gandhi wanted for some particular reason that Nehru should hold the post of Congress President. He, therefore, pressurized J B Kripalani to persuade some members of the Congress Working Committee to support Nehru. For which Kripalani later convinced some members of this. Gandhi is believed to have met Sardar Patel, after which Patel himself withdrew from the race for Congress Presidential candidate. Sardar Patel, understanding all the diplomacy and maintaining the unity of the Congress, obeyed Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru became the President. After which Nehru was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of the country. After this, many leaders of that time were deeply hurt by this decision, many even raised their voices. But everything got buried in the pages of history. If anything is left, a question that still feels a taint on the decisions of Nehru and Gandhi is that, why not Patel?
