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Cong demands apology from Rajnath over Maniben Patel diary entry row
The Statesman Delhi
|December 07, 2025
A claim by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's supposed opposition to a proposal by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to fund the Babari Masjid's reconstruction using public funds, has provoked a fierce response from the Congress party, which has accused the minister of propagating "falsehoods" and "twisting and turning history.
The row centres on the historical record contained in the diary of Maniben Patel, the daughter and private secretary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Rajnath Singh, while addressing a rally at Sadhli village in Gujarat’s Vadodara district, claimed that it was Sardar Patel who firmly opposed and ultimately prevented Nehru from using government money for the Babari Masjid issue.
This story is from the December 07, 2025 edition of The Statesman Delhi.
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