A revered name in Indian politics — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a lawyer and a political activist. He worked very closely with Mahatma Gandhi and was deeply influenced by Gandhi’s ideology and principles.

He played a leading role during the Indian independence movement. After independence, he was crucial in the integration of over 500 princely states into the Indian Union.

He was the first Home Minister of Independent India and his uncompromising efforts towards consolidation of the country earned him the title ‘Iron Man of India’.

He went to pursue a degree in law and travelled to England in 1910. He completed his law degree in 1913 from Inns of Court and came back to India to start his law practice in Godhra, Gujarat.

For his legal proficiency, Vallabhbhai was offered many lucrative posts by the British Government but he rejected all.

Let’s have a look at some interesting facts about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel:

• In the initial stages of the freedom movement, Patel was not interested in politics or the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. However, after meeting Gandhi in Godhra, Patel joined the Congress and became the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha that became a Congress stronghold later

• On Gandhi’s call, Patel quit his job and joined the movement to fight for exemption of taxes in Kheda at the time of plague and famine

• Patel joined Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement and travelled around West India to recruit 3,00,000 members. He also collected more than Rs 1.5 million for the party fund

• He worked extensively against alcohol consumption, untouchability, caste discrimination and for women emancipation in Gujarat and outside

• When Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned, Patel was asked to lead the Satyagraha movement in Nagpur in 1923 against the British law of banning the hoisting of the Indian Flag

• As India’s first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Patel played a key role in the integration of the princely states

• He contracted the Bubonic Plague when it swept through Gujarat and survived it. This plague killed about 12 million across India and China
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1991.