Friday, March 25, 2016

Nehru and Patel – An Uneasy Alliance



Even as Sardar Patel has become a subject of frenetic discussion, his relationship with Nehru has kindled the imagination of overwrought historians and writers. While earnest efforts have been made to buttress the theory that despite ideological differences Nehru and Patel remained on the most affable of terms, the fact of the matter is quite different.

A throwback on the incidents reveals that in the 1929 Lahore session of Congress itself, Gandhiji had made clear his proclivity for Nehru as he bypassed Patel’s stronger credentials for the post of President. This may or may not have been a genesis to the feud that developed between Gandhi’s two most trusted lieutenants but the die had been cast.

When the idea of a Constituent Assembly was mooted in 1935, Nehru was supposed to have solicited Patel’s counsel in deciding upon the members of Congress’ Working Committee to be nominated for the Assembly. A corollary to this was Nehru’s socialist slant calling for non-acceptance of ministerial responsibilities in the provinces, as enshrined in the Act. Such socialist ideals were anathema to Patel’s rugged realism which called for an open stance on the acceptance of prospective minister-ships. A compromise was hatched and Congress did take up ministerial posts in 06 of the 11 provinces where they won in the provincial elections.

In 1946, with the formation of a provincial government at the Centre, Nehru inherited the responsibility of office and Gandhiji was there again to override the attempts of the Working Committee at canvassing for Patel. Whatever may have been his claims to down-pat neutrality, Gandhiji’s fondness for Nehru was palpable. Despite that Patel remained in his preferential upholstery too and Gandhiji’s rationale was that both Patel and Nehru were like ‘two oxen yoked to the governmental cart, one will need the other and both will pull together’.

Patel’s integration of the princely states was a gargantuan feat though Nehru with his fervid diplomacy was none too upfront at his Deputy’s direct military action to liberate Hyderabad from the Razakkars, the Nizam’s private army. Contrary-wise, when the demands for an autonomous Pakhtoonistan came up in independent Pakistan, Patel questioned Nehru’s impetuosity in visiting the frontier, thus playing into the hands of the anti-Congress forces who wanted it to be kept out of the Indian union.

Nehru’s political edifice stood on a socialist & secular plinth and he was weary of Patel’s allegedly rightist tilt, fuelled by his courtiers who made him believe that reactionary forces were being sheltered under Patel’s beneficent plumes. Though Gandhiji’s assassination brought them back together, the Nehru-Patel feud resurfaced during China’s invasion of Tibet. Nehru vacillated on whether to support China while Patel was insistent that India recognise Tibet’s bona-fides as an independent buffer so as to stymie China’s attempts at establishing hegemony in SE Asia. By 1950 Congress seemed divided ideologically into 02 camps but Patel’s death in December paved the way for Nehru to take full charge of the affairs.

Nehru and Patel did suffer from a clash of ideals, which did not make for felicitous tidings when it came to establishing a harmonious working relationship. Yet, their mutual respect and a reaffirmation of faith in each other were indisputable facts and given their irrefragable stature as individuals, both Patel and Nehru occupy a zenithal space in history as the ones who, for a major part shaped our nation’s collective destiny.

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