Muslim League attacked Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel twice, Congress hid it for 86 years: BJP

NEW DELHI: On a day the country marked the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , with PM Modi leading the celebrations, BJP mounted a blistering attack on Congress claiming that the Muslim League had orchestrated two deadly attacks on Sardar Patel in 1939, but Congress establishment chose to keep the story under wraps for 86 years because it was an "uncomfortable truth".

In a series of posts on X, BJP said 34 of the 57 accused were convicted and two were awarded death sentence by a special court in one of the attacks, in which two "patriots" were martyred protecting Sardar Patel while dozens were injured, but "Congress historians" erased the case from textbooks and archives. "No one dared to mention Muslim League's role or Congress's cowardly silence," the party said.

Posting clippings and other documents related to the two attacks, BJP said, "Why did Congress keep this hidden for 86 years - until historian Rizwan Kadri exposed it? Because the truth is uncomfortable."

BJP said that while Patel was uniting princely states through the Prajamandal Movement, Muslim League, emboldened by "appeasement politics", began inciting violence in the name of religion, with Congress choosing "silence over confrontation".

On May 14, 1939, BJP said, a mob affiliated with Muslim League attacked Patel's peaceful procession from Nagina Masjid as he arrived to lead the Fifth Praja Parishad.

"It was a pre-planned conspiracy. Patriots Bachu Virji and Jadavji Modi were martyred protecting Sardar. Dozens injured. Yet Patel addressed the gathering that evening with calm resolve and tribute to the fallen," it said. "...Patel fought not just the British, but internal betrayal." "History must record the truth, not Congress's edited version," it added.