Patel, Vallabhbhai (1875-1950), was one of the three main leaders of the Indian National Congress when India became independent in 1947. He shared power with Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohandas K. Gandhi. Patel became deputy prime minister in 1947, a position he held until his death. He also held the positions of home minister, minister of states, and minister of information. As a governing politician, he is remembered largely for his role in the speedy incorporation of the Indian princely states into the new nation. This incorporation was mostly accomplished peacefully by diplomatic means, but Patel was not afraid to use force when necessary, as he did against the nizam of Hyderabad. See Hyderabad.
Patel was a devout Hindu. He represented the more conservative wing of the Indian National Congress. Patel was a talented politician who looked only for the most practical solutions to political problems. He opposed violence in the struggle against British rule not because it was immoral, as Gandhi thought, but because he thought that it would be ineffective and that it would provoke the British to be more repressive. Patel also accepted the partition of India, again mainly for practical reasons. He worked for the orderly transfer of power from British to Indian hands, keeping intact the administrative structure of the old British government, or Raj, in order to cope with turmoil and weakness in the early post-partition years.
Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was born in Nadiad, Gujarat, on Oct. 31, 1875. He went to London in 1910 to study law. Upon his return to India, he began working as a lawyer in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. Patel entered local politics in Ahmadabad in 1917, becoming the first Indian municipal commissioner in Ahmadabad. The name of sardar (leader) was first applied to him after he led the Bardoli Satyagraha (nonviolent campaign of resistance), a peasants’ campaign against increased taxes, in 1928. He was imprisoned several times during the struggle for India’s independence. He died in Bombay (now Mumbai) on Dec. 15, 1950.
See also Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand; Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru).
