Was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Jawaharlal Nehru's initial cabinet list in 1947? That was the hotly debated question on Thursday, 13 February with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar citing a new book to claim that Nehru did not want Patel in his cabinet and historian Ramachandra Guha joining Congress leaders to discount the argument and hit 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The Twitter duel, with both sides deploying sarcasm and historical references, began on Wednesday night when Jaishankar put out a post on releasing an “absorbing biography” of V P Menon - a senior civil servant who worked closely with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.