Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build the “Babri masjid” using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn’t allow his plans to succeed.
“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid (in Ayodhya) using public funds. If anyone opposed this proposal, it was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, born to a Gujarati mother. He didn’t allow the Babri Masjid to be built using public funds,” said Singh.
When Nehru raised the issue of restoring the Somnath Temple in Gujarat, Patel clarified that the temple was a different matter because Rs 30 lakh required for its facelift had been donated by common people, he added.
“A trust had been established, and not a single penny of the government’s money had been spent on this (Somnath temple) work. Similarly, the government didn’t give a single rupee to construct the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The entire cost was borne by the people of the country. This is called real secularism,” the BJP veteran said.
Singh said Sardar Patel could have become the Prime Minister, but he never hankered for any position in his career. Despite ideological differences with Nehru, he worked with him because he had given a promise to Mahatma Gandhi, the Defence Minister added.
He claimed that Nehru became the president of Congress in 1946 because Patel withdrew his nomination on Gandhi’s advice.
“In 1946, the President of Congress was to be elected. A majority of the Congress committee members proposed Vallabhbhai Patel’s name. When Gandhiji asked Patel to let Nehru become the president and withdraw his nomination, he immediately withdrew his name,” said Singh.
