Sizing up historical personalities poses two main challenges among many others. One is that the context and situations have changed and the other is that more facts are available now. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is probably the only contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru who continues to occupy the political space and remain relevant. He wrote no autobiography and that is one reason why there is scope for many more books on him, like the one by Hindol Sengupta, to analyse and understand this Iron Man of India.
“If only Sardar Patel had lived a little longer”, “If only Sardar Patel had become the first Prime Minister”, are oft-repeated conjunctions that will continue to defy answers. But the author has raised a very pertinent question half-way through his book: What if Gandhi, Nehru and Patel had concurred with one another and made up their minds on all contentious issues ‘while leading the rebirth of an ancient land’? (Chapter 8, page 216).
The book projects Sardar Patel as a man with firm ideas and uncompromising on his views. Yet his total subservience to Mahatma Gandhi epitomises his sincerity and sacrifice of self before the cause. He was probably Gandhi’s best troubleshooter as is revealed in many places in the book. Be it the Gaya Session of the Congress (1922) (where stalwarts such as Chittaranjan Das, Motilal Nehru and Vithalbhai Patel strongly supported Congress contesting local legislatures as against Gandhi’s wishes to the contrary) or the Tripuri Session in March 1939 (which pitted Gandhi against Subhas Chandra Bose (both did not attend!) on unconditional support to the British as against holding the British Raj by a pincer), it was Sardar Patel who defended Gandhi and bailed him out of imminent loss of face and probably leadership too.
As president of the Congress Session in Karachi in 1931, Patel valiantly defended Gandhi’s choices and decisions in the wake of accusations that Gandhi failed to save Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru from the gallows. But for Patel, Gandhi’s plan of attending the Round Table Conference would have been frustrated and history of India’s freedom struggle would have been different, probably under a different leader.
Little wonder that when Jinnah blamed Gandhi for not being favourable to Muslims, Ambedkar for depriving the lower castes and Munshi and Malaviya for neglecting Hindus, it was Sardar Patel who remained balanced and stood by Gandhi and yet at the top of the decision making team of the Congress. (Chapter 7, page 191). Yet, ironically, Gandhi had more than once relegated Patel to the background in support of Nehru (for example, 1929 Congress president election, Chapter 5, page 108).
The book is full of such incidences where Gandhi in his inimitable style asks Patel to withdraw and Sardar Patel does without a word of protest.
Why was Patel willing, again and again, to take the hit for Gandhi? The author has raised this question (page 6) and unfolds the life of Sardar Patel as a dedicated soldier of the freedom struggle and a trusted lieutenant. What if the ‘Iron Man’ had become the General and not melted before Gandhi? The conclusions are left to the readers to discern which one can say is the best thing about this book.
The British could not have continued to rule over India, divide it and leave a mess behind unless they made correct assessments about the people leading the freedom struggle. One can recall Wavell’s judgement of Maulana Azad (a gentleman, but against Gandhi like a rabbit-faced with a stoat), Ghaffar Khan (stupid and stubborn), Gandhi (shrewd but devious) and Jinnah (self-centred but sincere); it may all have guided him to deal with each one of them differently. But his assessment of Sardar Patel (the most forceful character among them... more of a man… though communal) was what must have made the British handle him with care but never allow him to lead the Congress. (The Untold Story of India’s Partition by N S Sarila; page 173).
Patel warned Nehru against championing the cause of China’s entry into the United Nations, just as he warned Gandhi against championing restoration of Khilafat. If only Patel could have had his way we would not be discussing Partition, 1962 and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. But all that is another book. Hindol Sengupta’s The Man who Saved India should be a must-read, at least for all politicians who unfortunately decide the fate of this country.