Srinagar, Nov 29 (KNO): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president and Union Minister J P Nadda on Saturday said the decision to scrap Article 370 “completed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s vision of a fully integrated India”, asserting that the constitutional provision had long remained an impediment to national unity and particularly to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), addressing the ‘Sardar@150 Unity March’ in Vadodara, he said the removal of Article 370 in August 2020 enabled J&K to be placed “on the same constitutional footing as the rest of the country”.
Nadda said Sardar Patel had succeeded in securing the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, but the subsequent “political call” taken by independent India’s leadership prevented the state from being integrated at par with the rest of the Union.
“Patel had already built the groundwork. The complication came later,” he said, adding that the current government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah “settled the issue that history had left incomplete”.
The BJP chief accused the Congress of “systematically minimising” Patel’s role in nation-building, alleging that attempts were made for decades to prevent the first Home Minister from receiving recognition in school curricula and political discourse. He claimed that even senior leaders were discouraged from attending Patel’s funeral. “His (Patel's) contribution was deliberately overshadowed for political reasons,” he said.
Nadda described Patel as a leader whose administrative ability and personal sacrifices helped shape independent India. He recalled that Patel left a flourishing legal career after Mahatma Gandhi persuaded him to dedicate himself to public life.
“He stood firmly with farmers during movements and always placed national duty above personal comfort,” he said.
Referring to the unification of 562 princely states after Independence, Nadda said the task required diplomacy, persuasion and at times firm action, and “Patel’s resolve ensured India emerged as a single, stable Union”.
He said the achievement continues to form the basis of the country’s governance and security structure.
Responding to criticism over the Statue of Unity project, the Union Minister said the soil from villages across the country was collected for the monument, which he described as a tribute symbolising the collective aspirations of 140 crore citizens. “It is not merely a statue; it reflects the unity of the nation and the legacy of Patel,” he said.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who also participated in the event, said large public participation demonstrated the continuing respect and emotional attachment people hold for Patel.
Goyal added that India’s progress in multiple fields would remain linked to Patel’s work and ideals—(KNO)