Hyderabad: Union Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday wondered why Gandhiji did not make Sardar Patel the first Prime Minister of the country despite heaping praises on him for merging 565 princely states into the Indian union.
“If Patel had been the first PM, the course of India’s history would have been different. Patel made India strong. If Patel got Bharat Ratna after 41 years, it was due to the family not in power but PV (Narasimha Rao),” he said.
He added, “What kind of discriminatory policies has the Congress adopted? Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to inform everyone what Patel did for the country.”
Prasad said if Hyderabad was the IT hub of the country and making rapid strides on various fronts, it is to Patel ensuring that Nizam-ruled Hyderabad State had merged with Indian Union.
He also took a dig at pro-Pakistan elements in the country and asked them to leave the country if they so desired.
Prasad was speaking on “Sardar Patel - Intricacies and Imperatives of Nation building,” a lecture organised by the Telangana state BJP here.
Union minister Bandaru Dattatraya, BJP State president Dr K Laxman, BJP floor leader G Kishan Reddy, MLC N Ramchender Rao and others attended.
