A war of words on Twitter erupted on Thursday over External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's assertion, citing a book, that Jawaharlal Nehru did not want Sardar Patel in his first Cabinet in 1947. Among those who responded to the post was eminent historian Ramachandra Guha, who called it a “myth”. Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor also questioned the Minister’s claim.
Was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Jawaharlal Nehru's initial cabinet list in 1947 was the hotly debated question with Jaishankar citing a new book to claim that Nehru did not want Patel in his cabinet and Guha and Congress leaders denying the argument while hitting out at the Minister.
The Twitter duel, with both sides deploying sarcasm and historical references, began on Wednesday night when Jaishankar put out a post on releasing an "absorbing biography" of VP Menon - a senior civil servant who worked closely with Patel - by Narayani Basu. He noted that the book had done "much awaited justice to a truly historical figure."
"Learnt from the book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet list. Clearly, a subject for much debate. Noted that the author stood her ground on this revelation," he said.
This tweet elicited a sharp response from Guha, who said "this a myth that has been comprehensively demolished by Professor Srinath Raghavan." The historian also said besides promoting fake news about and false rivalries between the builders of modern India is not the job of the Foreign Minister. "He should leave this to the BJP's IT Cell," Guha retorted.
Jaishankar hit back saying some Foreign Ministers do read books and it may be a good habit for some professors too. "In that case, strongly recommend the one I released yesterday," the minister said.
It did not stop there. Guha then posted a letter from Nehru to Patel dated August 1, 1947. In the letter, Nehru invites Patel to join the first Cabinet of free
India, calling him the "strongest pillar" of that Cabinet. "Can someone show this to Jaishankar, please," Guha asked on Twitter. Tagging Jaishankar's 'foreign ministers do read books' tweet, the historian added, "Sir, since you have a Ph D from JNU you must surely have read more books than me. Among them must have been the published correspondence of Nehru and Patel which documents how Nehru wanted Patel as the 'strongest pillar' of his first Cabinet. Do consult those books again."
Congress leader Ramesh said in light of the "fake news" doing the rounds that Nehru did not want Patel in his cabinet, he would share a series of letters and documents. Ramesh posted Nehru's letter to Mountbatten of July 19, 1947 with
Patel on top of the cabinet list. He also shared Nehru's letter to Patel dated August 4, 1947 with the cabinet list including the latter's name. Tharoor, tagging Jaishankar, shared Raghavan's piece that states Nehru never excluded Patel from cabinet list.