PM Modi Accuses Nehru of Preventing Sardar Patel from Fully Integrating Kashmir into India

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a strong attack on India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, alleging that he had prevented Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from fully integrating Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union at the time of Independence.

Speaking at a public event, Modi said that while Sardar Patel successfully unified over 500 princely states with the Indian Union, his efforts to bring Jammu and Kashmir into complete integration were obstructed. “Nehru prevented Sardar Patel from fully integrating Kashmir into India,” the Prime Minister said, terming it a “historic mistake” that affected the region for decades.

The remarks come amid renewed political debate over the legacy of India’s founding leaders and the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, which ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status.

Modi praised Sardar Patel’s decisive leadership and vision in uniting the nation, contrasting it with what he described as Nehru’s flawed handling of the Kashmir issue. “Had Patel been allowed to act freely, the history of Kashmir would have been different,” Modi asserted.