A story was running at the time that Dr Chai Patel and others had been recommended for Life peerages after lending the Labour party money.

Nehru was opposed in this by the right-wing Congressmen Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.

However, Sardar Patel died in 1950, leaving Nehru as the sole remaining iconic national leader, and soon the situation became such that Nehru was able to implement many of his basic policies without hindrance.

While the government admitted it was, at that time, drugging people without their consent, U. S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel found Ritchie could not prove he was one of the victims of MKUltra or that LSD caused his robbery attempt and dismissed the case in 2007.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel () ( 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950 ) was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of India.

He was raised in the countryside of Gujarat in a family of Gurjar Leva-Patidars Vallabhbhai Patel was employed in successful practice as a lawyer when he was first inspired by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.

Patel was also one of the earliest proponents of property rights and free enterprise in India.

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was born at his maternel uncle's house Desai Vago in Nadiad in Leva Patidar community of Gujarat.

His actual date of birth was never officially recorded — Patel entered 31 October as his date of birth on his matriculation examination papers.

His father was a devotee of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and would often take Patel to the Swaminarayan Temple in Vadtal about 20 km from Karamsad on foot.

Patel passed his matriculation at the late age of 22 ; at this point, he was generally regarded by his elders as an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job.

Fetching Jhaverba from her parents ' home, Patel set up his household in Godhra and was called to the bar.

Patel was given a note informing him of his wife's demise as he was cross-examining a witness in court.

He had also made a pact with his brother Vithalbhai to support his entry into politics in the Bombay Presidency, while Patel himself would remain in Ahmedabad and provide for the family. He was a vegetarian.

" But Patel was deeply impressed when Gandhi defied the British in Champaran for the sake of the area's oppressed farmers.

Though his decision was made on the spot, Patel later said that his desire and commitment came after intensive personal contemplation, as he realised he would have to abandon his career and material ambitions.

Thousands of activists and farmers were arrested, but Patel was not.

Patel was elected Ahmedabad's municipal president in 1922, 1924 and 1927 — during his terms, Ahmedabad was extended a major supply of electricity and the school system underwent major reforms.

When Gandhi was in prison, Sardar Patel was asked by Members of Congress to lead the satyagraha in Nagpur in 1923 against a law banning the raising of the Indian flag.

During the Ashes Test in 2009 at Lords Patel also attracted the Australian actor Russell Crowe into the TMS box, while his cousin the former Kiwi test cricketer Jeff Crowe was serving as the Match Referee.

Yasmin Khan argued that Gandhi's death and funeral helped consolidate the authority of the new Indian state under Nehru and Patel.

Without Gandhi's unifying personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move.

Patel gave a speech in Borsad in September 1917, encouraging Indians nationwide to sign Gandhi's petition demanding Swaraj — independence — from the British.

Meeting Gandhi a month later at the Gujarat Political Conference in Godhra, Patel became the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha — a public body which would become the Gujarati arm of the Indian National Congress — at Gandhi's encouragement.

When Gandhi asked for a Gujarati activist to devote himself completely to the assignment, Patel volunteered, much to Gandhi's personal delight.

Patel supported Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement and toured the state to recruit more than 300, 000 members and raise over Rs.

Patel also supported Gandhi's controversial suspension of resistance in wake of the Chauri Chaura incident.

Patel's arrest and Gandhi's subsequent arrest caused the Salt Satyagraha to greatly intensify in Gujarat — districts across Gujarat launched an anti-tax rebellion until and unless Patel and Gandhi were released.

Gandhi's secretary Mahadev Desai kept detailed records of conversations between Gandhi and Patel.

In 1938, Patel organised rank and file opposition to the attempts of then-Congress president Subhas Chandra Bose to move away from Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance.

But criticism arose from Bose's supporters, socialists and other Congressmen that Patel himself was acting in an authoritarian manner in his defence of Gandhi's authority.

On the outbreak of World War II Patel supported Nehru's decision to withdraw the Congress from central and provincial legislatures, contrary to Gandhi's advice, as well as an initiative by senior leader Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari to offer Congress's full support to Britain if it promised Indian independence at the end of the war and install a democratic government right away.

The British rejected Rajagopalachari's initiative, and Patel embraced Gandhi's leadership again.

While Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Maulana Azad initially criticised Gandhi's proposal for an all-out campaign of civil disobedience to force the British to Quit India, Patel was its most fervent supporter.

Gandhi asked all 16 states representatives and Congress to elect the right person and Sardar Patel's name was proposed by 13 states representatives out of 16, but Patel respected Gandhi's request to not be the first prime minister.

Knowing Gandhi's deep anguish regarding proposals of partition, Patel engaged him in frank discussion in private meetings over the perceived practical unworkability of any Congress-League coalition, the rising violence and the threat of civil war.

Following Gandhi's and Congress ' approval of the plan, Patel represented India on the Partition Council, where he oversaw the division of public assets, and selected the Indian council of ministers with Nehru.

In Kheda, the entire revolt had been led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was to become Gandhi's right hand man.

Initially, Gandhi's choice of the salt tax was met with incredulity by the Working Committee of the Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dibyalochan Sahoo were ambivalent ; Sardar Patel suggested a land revenue boycott instead.

He failed to do so, which led to Gandhi's launching of the civil disobedience movement in 1930, and Patel resigned from the Legislative Assembly in sympathy with this movement.

This was opposed by Gandhi's supporters, men like Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad, who became known as the No Changers as opposed to the Swarajist Changers.