BJP National President JP Nadda. File. Photo: X/@JPNadda via ANI
BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday (Nov 22, 2025) lauded Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s contribution to unifying the country, saying India’s first deputy prime minister was not given the honor he “truly deserved” four decades after independence due to a Congress “conspiracy”.
If anyone has placed Sardar Patel in his “right and rightful place” in the country’s history, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Nadda said.
The BJP chief made these remarks at an event here after calling off the ‘@150 Unity March’ to mark the birth anniversary of Patel, who also served as India’s first home minister.
Mr. Nadda said, “The British wanted India to remain weak and divided. We also freed ourselves from this mindset. Our nation was divided into 562 princely states. We remained under foreign rule because we were separated.” Patel united these states within two years and merged them into one nation, he said.
“He transformed a divided country into a strong and united India – ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. But unfortunately, the respect he deserved in history and in the country was not given to him by Congress leaders for malicious and self-serving reasons,” said Mr. Nadda, also a Union minister.
The BJP chief said that for four decades after independence — from 1950 to 1991 — the Congress remained in power, but none of the Prime Ministers of that time conferred the Bharat Ratna on Patel. “A conspiracy has been hatched to ensure that he does not get the respect he deserves in history,” Mr Nadda said.
“In a real sense, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid a real tribute to Sardar Patel. The tallest statue of Sardar Patel in the world has been built in Kevadia under his leadership,” he added.
Published – 22 Nov 2025 22:27 IST
