Patel at 150: A life in service of the nation

When India gained independence on August 15, 1947, the British left behind a fractured subcontinent that included more than 560 princely states. Without geographical unity, its hard-won freedom would have been hollow. With vision, determination, and an unyielding will, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister and home minister, forged these scattered principalities into a single nation, giving independent India its shape and strength. However, the efforts of this great unifier did not receive the recognition he deserved.

- Rizwan Kadri

Decades later, Narendra Modi recognised this omission and took decisive steps to preserve and celebrate Patel's legacy. Today, the world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, stands as a monumental tribute to Sardar Patel, symbolising the nation's commitment to honouring the legacy of India’s Iron Man.

Coming from Gujarat, the home state of Patel and inspired by his life, the ideals of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” were deeply embedded in Modi’s thoughts and actions from an early age. During the struggle against the Emergency, he had the opportunity to work alongside Maniben Patel, Sardar Patel’s daughter. As the general secretary of the Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti, which spearheaded the anti-Emergency movement, Modi played an active role in several of Maniben’s initiatives, further strengthening his connection to Patel’s legacy.

Sardar Patel’s leadership and administrative acumen were frequent themes in Modi's lectures as an RSS pracharak, where he urged volunteers to draw inspiration from the former's spirit of nationalism. Mod's political journey and principles of governance consistently reflect Patel's influence.

1n 1999, while serving as the party's national general secretary, Modi visited the Sardar Patel Memorial Society in the U.K. There, paying tribute to Patel, he emphasised that true nationalism lies in uniting people under a shared national purpose. Earlier, during the1990 Ram Rath Yatra movement, when LK Advani was arrested, Modi, along with other BJP leaders, took an oath before Patel’s statue in Anmedabad. There have been many such moments, small and big, in Modi’s life that indicate how Patel served asa source of inspiration.