Correct Answer : Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union Ministers paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 71st death anniversary on Wednesday (14th Dec 2022).
* Stating that the country will forever be grateful to Patel, PM Modi said, “Remembering Sardar Patel on his Punya Tithi. India will always be grateful to him for his monumental service, his administrative skills, and the untiring efforts to unite our nation.”
* Sardar, or Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, was an Indian leader. From 1947 until 1950, he was India’s first deputy prime minister. He was a barrister and a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress who led the country’s independence movement and guided its integration into a single, independent nation. He was a member of the Indian National Congress’s conservative wing.
* Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known as the “Iron Man of India,” was born in Nadiad village in present-day Gujarat on October 31, 1875.
* In India’s freedom struggle, he was a political and freedom leader.
* He is known as the Iron Man of India because of his strong views on the union of princely states into one nation, his good attitude toward women’s emancipation, and his active participation in shaping India into what it is now.
* Vallabhbhai Patel was given the title of ‘Sardar’ by Mahatma Gandhi.
* In 1991, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna. Since 2014, his birthday has been celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day). Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel joined the princely kingdoms in British Indian territory, preventing India from becoming divided.
* Due to his role in uniting the shards of princely kingdoms into a single nation, he is known as the ‘Bismarck of India.’
* Modern All India Services was founded by him.
* He served as India’s first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
* Sardar Patel, 75, died of a major heart attack in Bombay on December 15, 1950.
Integration of Princely States :
* Sardar Patel, India’s first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, was instrumental in the union of 565 princely kingdoms into the Indian Union.
* Travancore, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Bhopal, and Kashmir were among the princely kingdoms that refused to join India.
* Sardar Patel worked relentlessly to reach an agreement with the princely kingdoms, but he did not shy away from using Sama, Dama, Dand, and Bhed techniques when necessary.
* He had used force to acquire the princely realms of Junagadh, governed by the Nawab, and Hyderabad, ruled by the Nizam, both of whom had refused to join the Union of India.
Source : Indian Express
