Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: the man who unified India

As prime minister, Winston Churchill ordered the preparation of an imperial strategy to balkanize India and tighten Britain s post-war hold over her. The strategy envisaged two Pakistans, one in the west and the other in the east. Within the borders, India was to be balkanized with the creation of independent confederations of princely states. In keeping with this strategy, Lord Louis Mountbatten was given the mandate to transfer power and quit India. However, Churchill s imperial plans were foiled by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who insisted on the partition of Punjab and Bengal as well as a free hand in reaching a settlement with the princes. This enabled Patel to integrate over 560 princely states in a period of about eighteen months and helped him create a united India. This book examines the extraordinary contribution of Sardar Patel to the Indian freedom struggle and his farsighted and courageous approach in building a strong, integrated India.