NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming that Jawaharlal Nehru stopped Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from ensuring the full accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.
Responding to the remark made during Modi’s speech at the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas event in Gujarat, Kharge accused the Prime Minister of distorting history and spreading lies about India’s first Prime Minister.
In a detailed post on X, Kharge said Nehru and Patel had worked together to secure Jammu and Kashmir’s accession in 1947. “Pandit Nehru was in contact with Sheikh Abdullah, while Sardar Patel was in touch with Maharaja Hari Singh. Both leaders were persuading them that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India was in the people’s interest,” he wrote.
Citing Sardar Patel’s Selected Correspondence, compiled by Patel’s secretary V Shankar, Kharge said the two leaders were “equally invested” in the process.
Kharge also pointed to Nehru’s letter to Patel dated 27 September 1947 weeks before the tribal invasion, in which Nehru warned that Pakistan was planning an attack and urged Patel to expedite Kashmir’s accession.
He further said that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was not a sign of weakness but an instrument "through which Patel and Nehru built a bridge between Kashmir and India.” The article, he said, was passed under Patel’s direction in the Constituent Assembly while Nehru was abroad.
He also cited historian Pyarelal’s book 'Purnahuti', claiming that even Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had once acknowledged that as long as Nehru led India and Sheikh Abdullah led Kashmir, the state would never join Pakistan.
Kharge challenged the prime minister to read the correspondence between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru from that period and review the Constituent Assembly debates on Jammu and Kashmir’s accession.
He went on to claim that leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS, including Savarkar and Golwalkar, had supported the idea of an “independent Kashmir” and hoisted the Maharaja’s flag instead of the Indian tricolour on August 15, 1947.
Kharge’s response came a day after Modi said Sardar Patel wanted the entire Kashmir region to be integrated into India but was stopped by Nehru, which led to decades of suffering.
Responding to the remark made during Modi’s speech at the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas event in Gujarat, Kharge accused the Prime Minister of distorting history and spreading lies about India’s first Prime Minister.
In a detailed post on X, Kharge said Nehru and Patel had worked together to secure Jammu and Kashmir’s accession in 1947. “Pandit Nehru was in contact with Sheikh Abdullah, while Sardar Patel was in touch with Maharaja Hari Singh. Both leaders were persuading them that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India was in the people’s interest,” he wrote.
Citing Sardar Patel’s Selected Correspondence, compiled by Patel’s secretary V Shankar, Kharge said the two leaders were “equally invested” in the process.
Kharge also pointed to Nehru’s letter to Patel dated 27 September 1947 weeks before the tribal invasion, in which Nehru warned that Pakistan was planning an attack and urged Patel to expedite Kashmir’s accession.
He further said that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was not a sign of weakness but an instrument "through which Patel and Nehru built a bridge between Kashmir and India.” The article, he said, was passed under Patel’s direction in the Constituent Assembly while Nehru was abroad.
प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी जी का यह बयान कि पंडित जवाहर-लाल नेहरू कश्मीर का भारत में विलय नहीं चाहते थे सरासर झूठा और निंदनीय है।
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) November 1, 2025
1. जम्मू कश्मीर के भारत में विलय की प्रक्रिया के दौरान पंडित नेहरू कश्मीर की जनता के नेता शेख़ अब्दुल्ला के संपर्क में थे, वहीं सरदार पटेल जम्मू… pic.twitter.com/Xeb8RIwRhB
He also cited historian Pyarelal’s book 'Purnahuti', claiming that even Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had once acknowledged that as long as Nehru led India and Sheikh Abdullah led Kashmir, the state would never join Pakistan.
Kharge challenged the prime minister to read the correspondence between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru from that period and review the Constituent Assembly debates on Jammu and Kashmir’s accession.
He went on to claim that leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS, including Savarkar and Golwalkar, had supported the idea of an “independent Kashmir” and hoisted the Maharaja’s flag instead of the Indian tricolour on August 15, 1947.
Kharge’s response came a day after Modi said Sardar Patel wanted the entire Kashmir region to be integrated into India but was stopped by Nehru, which led to decades of suffering.
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