Patel is hero, Nehru villain in Congress mouthpiece's shocking blooper

The Congress has put its foot in its mouth and the timing could not have been worse Just ahead of the partys 131st Foundation Day celebrations today the Congress Mumbai wing has shocked party loyalists with an exhaustive writeup in its mouthpiece blaming the party icon and Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the state of affairs in Kashmir China and Tibet The article blatantly states that Nehru should have listened to freedom fighter and former home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels views on international affairsAt a conference on the partition of India in June 1947 are from left President of the Indian National Congress Acharya J B Kripalani Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Advisor to the Viceroy Sir Eric Melville Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten PicGetty ImagesIn the past the party has rarely commented on the historic tussle between the two but the December issue of Congress Darshan Hindi edition does just that in a tribute piece to mark Patels death anniversary on December 15Also readSanjay Nirupam apologises for criticism of Nehru Sonia in Congress DarshanWhile the Congress rarely comments on the historic feud between the nations first PM Jawaharlal Nehru left and fellow freedom fighter and former home minister Sardar Patel the Congress article goes a step further and says Nehrus stand was wrong PicAFPldquoDespite Patel getting the post of deputy prime minister and home minister the relations between the two leaders remained strained and both had threatened to resign time and againrdquo reads the articleAlso readCongress mouthpiece shouldnt rake up decade old issues NCPIn the Congress article the paragraph next to Sardar Patels picture says that if Nehru had embraced Patels foresight many problems in international affairs would not have arisenThe controversial writeup which is not accompanied by the authors name underlines in the very beginning that the country has been celebrating Patels birth anniversary October 31 as the National Unity Day since 2014 The Mumbai Regional Congress Committee MRCC seems to have forgotten that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who started the initiative to reinvent Patel as a national icon to overshadow other Congress leaders including the late Indira Gandhi whose death anniversary had been observed by the party on the same day since 1985Mumbai Congress chief and editor of its mouthpiece Sanjay Nirupam said he is not involved in the daytoday functioning of the magazine and was unaware of the article File picRightwing Hindutva forces and the BJP have often endorsed Patel as the true Hindu icon and architect of Indias freedom struggle It is usually the saffron brigade that portrays Patel as a man of steel lohapurush and paints Gandhi and Nehru as villains who spoilt the dream of Akhand Bharat unified India while generations of Congress leaders have denied this However MRCCs mouthpiece has gone against the party line and endorsed the view that Nehru was to blame for the Kashmir conflictBlaming NehruldquoNehru PM was in charge of foreign affairs and kept Kashmir with him citing that it was an international issue But Patel being deputy PM would sometimes attend the cabinet meetings Todays problems wouldnt have arisen had Patels foresight in the Kashmir issue been considered thenrdquo wrote the unidentified authorThe essay includes more stunners such as the claim that Nehru also messed up other international issues like China Tibet and Nepal because he ignored Patels viewsThe author cited a letter that Patel wrote in 1950 to caution Nehru against Chinas policy towards Tibet and where ldquoPatel described China as unfaithful and a future enemy of IndiahelliprdquoldquoHad Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel been heard then by Nehru the problems of Kashmir China Tibet and Nepal wouldnt have existed now Patel opposed Nehrus move of taking the Kashmir issue to the UNOrdquo stated the article adding ldquoNehru did not agree with Patels views on NepalrdquoThe writer also suggests that Nehru made yet another error regarding the liberation of Goa Patel had suggested it be done in 1950 but because Nehru disagreed the liberation movement took place a decade laterldquoNehru was very upset when Patel suggested at a prolonged cabinet meeting in 1950 that the Indian armed forces would finish the task of freeing Goans from the Portuguese in just two hours Goa wouldnt have had to wait till 1961 for freedom had Patels suggestion been accepted thenrdquo added the articleThe article appearing on pages 18 to 23 also recounts other clashes between the two Congress heavyweights who differed on matters from economic policy to HinduMuslim unity see ExcerptsWasnt meCongress Darshan is edited by MRCC president Sanjay Nirupam who was once also editor of the Shiv Senas Hindi mouthpiece Dopahar Ka SaamanaThe monthly has four other senior MRCC members on its editorial board mdash Sandesh Kondvilkar Bhushan Patil Chitrasen Singh and Nizamuddin RaeenHowever when this reporter read out the article to Nirupam last morning he said he was not involved in the daytoday working of the magazine and it was someone elses responsibility to check the contents before it went to print ldquoI do not agree with the article It seems to have been sourced but I dont know who the writer isrdquo he said adding that corrective measures would be takenNirupams defence did not go down well with Congress loyalists A senior party leader told midday that the goofup was unpardonable and indicated irresponsibility of the officebearers ldquoWe have already taken the issue to the party bosses in New Delhi The December issue has some objectionable content about Sonia Gandhi as wellrdquo he said requesting anonymity