Gandhi, Nehru hindered Sardar Patel from becoming PM: Minister

Sultanpur, Oct 31 (UNI) Uttar Pradesh Cooperative minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president Swami Prasad Maurya today said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had failed to become Prime Minister due to the resistance of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Addressing people at a programme here on the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, the first Home Minister of Independent India, Mr Maurya said, ''the country was divided as both Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru wanted to become the Prime Ministers.'' ''But soon after the formation of Pakistan, terrorism hit India,'' Mr Maurya added.

''Had a great leader like Sardar Patel been the PM, terrorism and separatism would have not breeded in the country,'' he claimed.

Former union minister and chief guest in the programme Rampoojan Patel, meanwhile, said even today when people were faced with difficulties, they remembered Sardar Patel.

UNI XC-JAS GL AS2001