Editing Vallabhbhai Patel (section)

=== Satyagraha in Gujarat ===

Supported by Congress volunteers [[Narhari Parikh]], [[Mohanlal Pandya]], and [[Abbas Tyabji]], Vallabhbhai Patel began a village-by-village tour in the [[Kheda district]] documenting grievances and asking villagers for their support for a statewide revolt by [[tax resistance|refusing to pay taxes]]. Patel emphasised the potential hardships and the need for complete unity and non-violence from every village in the face of provocation.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=65}} When the revolt was launched and tax revenue withheld, the government sent police and intimidation squads to seize property, including confiscating barn animals and whole farms. Patel organised a network of volunteers to work with individual villages, helping them hide valuables and protect themselves against raids. Thousands of activists and farmers were arrested, but Patel was not. The revolt evoked sympathy and admiration across India, including among pro-British Indian politicians. The government agreed to negotiate with Patel and decided to suspend the payment of taxes for a year, even scaling back the rate. Patel emerged as a hero to Gujaratis.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=66–68}} In 1920 he was elected president of the newly formed [[Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee]]; he would serve as its president until 1945.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

Patel supported Gandhi's [[Non-cooperation movement (1909–22)|Non-cooperation movement]] and toured the state to recruit more than 300,000 members and raise over Rs.{{nbsp}}1.5{{nbsp}}million in funds.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=91}} Helping organise bonfires in Ahmedabad in which British goods were burned, Patel threw in all his English-style clothes. Along with his daughter Mani and son Dahya, he switched completely to wearing [[khadi]], the locally produced cotton clothing. Patel also supported Gandhi's controversial suspension of resistance in the wake of the [[Chauri Chaura incident]]. In Gujarat, he worked extensively in the following years against alcoholism, [[Dalit|untouchability]], and [[Indian caste system|caste discrimination]], as well as for the empowerment of women. In the Congress, he was a resolute supporter of Gandhi against his [[Swaraj Party|Swarajist]] critics. Patel was elected Ahmedabad's municipal president in 1922, 1924, and 1927. During his terms, he oversaw improvements in infrastructure: the supply of electricity was increased, and drainage and sanitation systems were extended throughout the city. The school system underwent major reforms. He fought for the recognition and payment of teachers employed in schools established by nationalists (independent of British control) and even took on sensitive [[Hindu]]–[[Muslim]] issues.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=134}} Patel personally led relief efforts in the aftermath of the torrential rainfall of 1927 that caused major floods in the city and in the Kheda district, and great destruction of life and property. He established refugee centres across the district, mobilised volunteers, and arranged for supplies of food, medicines, and clothing, as well as emergency funds from the government and the public.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=138–141}}

When Gandhi was in prison, Patel was asked by Members of Congress to lead the ''satyagraha'' in [[Nagpur]] in 1923 against a law banning the raising of the Indian flag. He organised thousands of volunteers from all over the country to take part in processions of people violating the law. Patel negotiated a settlement obtaining the release of all prisoners and allowing nationalists to hoist the flag in public. Later that year, Patel and his allies uncovered evidence suggesting that the police were in league with a local [[dacoity|''dacoit'']] (criminal) gang related to Devar Baba in the Borsad ''[[taluka]]'' even as the government prepared to levy a major tax for fighting dacoits in the area. More than 6,000 villagers assembled to hear Patel speak in support of proposed agitation against the tax, which was deemed immoral and unnecessary. He organised hundreds of Congressmen, sent instructions, and received information from across the district. Every village in the ''taluka'' resisted payment of the tax and prevented the seizure of property and land. After a protracted struggle, the government withdrew the tax. Historians believe that one of Patel's key achievements was the building of cohesion and trust amongst the different castes and communities, which had been divided along socio-economic lines.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=119–125}}

In April 1928, Patel returned to the independence struggle from his municipal duties in Ahmedabad when [[Bardoli]] suffered from a serious double predicament of a famine and a steep tax hike. The revenue hike was steeper than it had been in Kheda even though the famine covered a large portion of Gujarat. After cross-examining and talking to village representatives, emphasising the potential hardship and need for non-violence and cohesion, Patel initiated the struggle with a complete denial of taxes.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=149–151}} Patel organised volunteers, camps, and an information network across affected areas. The revenue refusal was stronger than in Kheda, and many sympathy ''satyagrahas'' were undertaken across Gujarat. Despite arrests and seizures of property and land, the struggle intensified. The situation came to a head in August, when, through sympathetic intermediaries, he negotiated a settlement that included repealing the tax hike, reinstating village officials who had resigned in protest, and returning seized property and land. It was by the women of Bardoli, during the struggle and after the Indian National Congress victory in that area, that Patel first began to be referred to as ''Sardar'' (or chief).{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=168}}

==== Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy: 1931 ====
Under the chairmanship of Sardar Patel, the "Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy" resolution was passed by the Congress in 1931.

[[File:Congressmen.png|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Maulana Azad]], [[Jamnalal Bajaj]], Patel (third from left, in the foreground), [[Subhash Chandra Bose]], and other Congressmen at Wardha.]]
As Gandhi embarked on the [[Dandi Salt March]], Patel was arrested in the village of Ras and was put on trial without witnesses, with no lawyer or journalists allowed to attend. Patel's arrest and Gandhi's subsequent arrest caused the [[Salt Satyagraha]] to greatly intensify in Gujarat. Districts across Gujarat launched an anti-tax rebellion until and unless Patel and Gandhi were released.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=193}} Once released, Patel served as interim Congress president, but was re-arrested while leading a procession in Bombay. After the signing of the [[Gandhi–Irwin Pact]], Patel was elected president of Congress for its 1931 session in [[Karachi]]. Here the Congress ratified the pact and committed itself to the defence of fundamental rights and civil liberties. It advocated the establishment of a secular nation with a minimum wage and the abolition of untouchability and serfdom. Patel used his position as Congress president to organise the return of confiscated land to farmers in Gujarat.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=206}} Upon the failure of the [[Round Table Conference]] in London, Gandhi and Patel were arrested in January 1932 when the struggle re-opened, and imprisoned in the Yeravda Central Jail. During this term of imprisonment, Patel and Gandhi grew close to each other, and the two developed a close bond of affection, trust, and frankness. Their mutual relationship could be described as that of an elder brother (Gandhi) and his younger brother (Patel). Despite having arguments with Gandhi, Patel respected his instincts and leadership. In prison, the two discussed national and social issues, read Hindu epics, and cracked jokes. Gandhi taught Patel [[Sanskrit]]. Gandhi's secretary, [[Mahadev Desai]], kept detailed records of conversations between Gandhi and Patel.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=221–222}} When Gandhi embarked on a fast-unto-death protesting the separate electorates allocated for untouchables, Patel looked after Gandhi closely and himself refrained from partaking of food.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|pp=226–229}} Patel was later moved to a jail in [[Nasik]], and refused a British offer for a brief release to attend the cremation of his brother Vithalbhai, who had died in October 1933. He was finally released in July 1934.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

Patel's position at the highest level in the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] was largely connected with his role from 1934 onwards (when the Congress abandoned its [[boycott]] of elections) in the party organisation. Based at an apartment in [[Mumbai|Bombay]], he became the Congress's main fundraiser and chairman of its Central Parliamentary Board, playing the leading role in selecting and financing candidates for the 1934 elections to the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] in New Delhi and for the provincial elections of 1936.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brass |first=Paul R. |title=Patel, Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai (1875/6–1950), Politician in India |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004}}</ref> In addition to collecting funds and selecting candidates, he also determined the Congress's stance on issues and opponents.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=248}} Not contesting a seat for himself, Patel nevertheless guided Congressmen elected in the provinces and at the national level. In 1935 Patel underwent surgery for [[haemorrhoids]], yet continued to direct efforts against the plague in Bardoli and again when a drought struck Gujarat in 1939. Patel guided the Congress ministries that had won power across India with the aim of preserving party discipline{{snd}}Patel feared that the British government would take advantage of opportunities to create conflict among elected Congressmen, and he did not want the party to be distracted from the goal of complete independence.{{sfn|Rajmohan Gandhi|1990|p=266}} Patel clashed with [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]], opposing declarations of the adoption of socialism at the 1936 Congress session, which he believed was a diversion from the main goal of achieving independence. In 1938 Patel organised rank and file opposition to the attempts of then-Congress president [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] to move away from Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance. Patel saw Bose as wanting more power over the party. He led senior Congress leaders in a protest that resulted in Bose's resignation. But criticism arose from Bose's supporters, socialists, and other Congressmen that Patel himself was acting in an authoritarian manner in his defence of Gandhi's authority.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}