India's Iron Man

This biography of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel is a comprehensive and vivid narration of his unique contribution to Mahatma Gandhis struggle for Indias freedom (1920-47). Without his supports, Mahatma Gandhi admitted, his satyagrahas wouldnt have had the same success. It was he who built the party machine through imposition of strict discipline and by giving it a mass bade, and as party boss supervised and directed the functioning of the Congress ministries post-1937 provincial elections. Patels post-1945 role concerned Indias freedom, and also marked the end of his being Gandhis blind follower. Disillusioned with his own party in the failure of the Cabinet mission parleys, he negotiated directly with Cripps and helped the Congress form the Interim Government. He wanted to keep Jinnah out in the cold and suffer in his isolation. The book discusses his failure, rather that of the party, with Wavells maneuvering in getting the Muslim League into the Cabinet as an equal with the Congress, With that Jinnah conducted his fight form within. Realising that united India had becomes an impossibility and the country faced chaos and total disintegration, Patel rose above all considerations to save and consolidate what would be left of India after Partition. This he achieved through administrative unity by forming the IAS on an all-India basis, and the countrys unity through the integration of the princely States. This book returns to the earlier two decades to show the unity of Patels thinking and actions. The history of the Gandhian ear cannot be complete and properly understood unless Patel is read and appreciated for what he did and achieved for India, This book is an attempt to fill that gap. About the Book Balraj Krishna began his