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In Patel, Menon, then Reforms Commissioner to Lord Wavell, recognised a political force to reckon with. Not for him the traditional role of sycophant or yes-man. He thought nothing of taking on colossuses of the likes of Gandhi and Nehru, if his views differed from theirs. There is no doubt that Patel was a seasoned administrator, a beloved fighter for land reform and a man of granite-like strength of mind. In a blog published in The Times of India on October 31, the Indian Prime Minister termed Patel the “maker of modern India”.Īlso read: Reconfiguring India’s Nationalism, One Grand Statue at a Time On October 30, 2018, 68 years after his death, a statue of the Sardar – incidentally the tallest in the world at 597 ft – was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Narmada district of Gujarat. Stories of Menon’s travels across India, and his dealings with petulant, rebellious, sometimes gun-toting maharajahs are legendary, even though it is Patel who is widely held to be the unifier of modern India. In modern Indian history, the duo of Patel and Menon commands respect even today. In June 1947, the states department, with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in charge and Vappala Pangunni Menon as its administrative head and secretary, was established with the sole aim of ensuring the merger of the princely states with India.
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