Who is known as Iron Man of India ?

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Bharat Ratna Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, (born 31 October 1875, Nadiad, Gujarat.), was a barrister by profession, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and among one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India.

He was respectfully called Sardar by his colleagues and followers during the satyagraha against steep tax hikes in a famine hit Bardoli in 1928.

He organised farmers from Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil disobedience against the British Raj and quickly rose to the leadership of the Indian National Congress.

In 1930, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was imprisoned for his participation in Mahatma Gandhi’s salt satyagraha.

He had led the Satyagraha when Gandhiji was imprisoned, at the request of the congress members. Sardar Patel was freed in 1931, following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

The same year, Sardar Patel was elected as the President of Indian National Congress in its Karachi session the dream of a secular India was conceived.

In 1942 Sardar Patel extended his unwavering support to Mahatma Gandhi for the Quit India Movement.

He travelled throughout the country and gathered support for the Quit India movement and was arrested again in 1942.

He was imprisoned in the Ahmednagar fort till 1945 along with other Congress leaders.

As the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India, he took up the task of integrating the princely states into the Republic of India at the request of Mahatma Gandhi.

He was the de facto Supreme Commander-in-chief of Indian army during the political integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

He is the architect of independent India and united a scattered nation without any bloodshed.

He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1991.

A charismatic leader who spoke straight from his heart, respected the opinion of those who disagreed with him – Sardar Patel, strongly believed in the unity of Indians who fought the British together and their ability to progress from ‘Swarajya’ to ‘Surajya’

He was a staunch believer in equality, stood for women empowerment and self-sufficiency through rapid industrialisation.

Diplomacy, negotiations and his great foresight helped Sardar Patel integrate the numerous princely states into the Indian Union without bloodshed.

His efforts in uniting a scattered nation lives on as his biggest legacy, where his powers of persuasion and his statesmanship came into full play.

Sardar Patel played an important role in the selection of members of the drafting committee.

He took a strong stand on key issues such as fundamental rights, the position of the prime minister, the election procedure of the President and the status of Kashmir.

He worked to ensure that the princely states accepted the constitution of India – a pivotal step towards unification of India.

Sardar Patel was instrumental in the founding the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service.

He ensured the defence of Indian civil servants from political attack and is remembered as the "patron saint" of India's services.

In September of 1947, when Pakistan attempted to invade Kashmir, Sardar Patel ruthlessly protected Kashmir from Pakistan.

Nehru passed on reports to Patel that forces in Pakistan were “making preps to enter Kashmir in large numbers”.