Traffic moves along Delhi’s A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road, formerly known as Aurangzeb Road, as it does every day. Behind the thick canopies of old neem, tamarind and jamun trees lining both sides of the avenue, glimpses of sprawling bungalows emerge through the foliage.

In a small portion of one such bungalow lived Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It was a privately owned property at 1, Aurangzeb Road. It was here that Patel worked towards integrating 562 princely states into the Indian Union, helping consolidate the country in the turbulent years surrounding Independence.
Two of his close associates, V.P. Menon and author Ramadhar, his adviser on Jammu and Kashmir affairs, frequently visit there. It was in this house, too, that Patel and his advisers worked out the strategy for the police action against the princely state of Hyderabad. The operation, known as Operation Polo, began at 4 a.m. on September 13, 1948. It culminated in Hyderabad’s integration into India.Patel’s daughter, Maniben Patel, also lived with him in Delhi.

Put a Plaque on Sardar Patel’s House

Patel moved to Delhi in 1946. In the interim government formed under Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership, he took charge of the Home and Information and Broadcasting portfolios. Yet Patel did not opt for an official government residence. Instead, he moved into a portion of the bungalow at 1, Aurangzeb Road, which belonged to his friend Banwari Lal Purohit. It was Banwari Lal who had offered him a place to stay.
“It is unfortunate that no one appears to have made a serious effort to install a commemorative plaque outside the home of such a towering figure in independent India’s history. A plaque could have reminded younger generations that Patel’s Delhi residence witnessed several pivotal events in the making of modern India,”says Art Critic Amitabh Adhar, who heard so many stories of Sardar Patel and his house from his father, Ramadhar. Patel’s lifestyle was marked by an almost ascetic simplicity.
When the interim government was formed in 1946 and the first government of independent India took office in 1947, several prominent leaders were allotted official residences in the capital. Dr Rajendra Prasad moved to what became Rajendra Prasad Road, formerly Queen Victoria Road; C. Rajagopalachari to Rajaji Marg, formerly Hastings Road and Babu Jagjivan Ram to the road now known as Krishna Menon Marg.Patel, however, did not seek a grand bungalow for himself.

Why Was No Memorial Built to Sardar Patel?

After Patel died in Mumbai on December 15, 1950, the government wanted to acquire the bungalow where he had lived and establish a memorial in his honour. Banwari Lal’s family, however, was unwilling to part with the property.
It is genuinely astonishing that a towering personality like Sardar Patel does not have a proper memorial in the national capital, even though he took so many important decisions while living here. Memorials have been established for Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Babu Jagjivan Ram, among others. Why, then, has no memorial been built to Sardar Patel? That, in itself, is a question worth asking.

Gandhi, Patel and the Woman Who Shared Their Burden

On October 2, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi spent his last birthday at Birla House in Delhi. He observed the day by devoting much of his time to fasting, prayer and spinning yarn on his charkha.
He was deeply disheartened and felt increasingly helpless. The circumstances prevailing in the country had left Gandhi feeling isolated and alone. His anguish was unmistakable.
That day, Sardar Patel came to meet him from his residence at 1, Aurangzeb Road. Gandhi spoke candidly with Patel and asked him, “What crime have I committed that I should have to live to see this tragic day?”
Patel’s daughter, Maniben Patel, later recorded the emotional impact of the meeting. “We had gone there with great enthusiasm; but we returned with heavy hearts,” she wrote.


The Iron Man at Metcalfe House

Metcalfe House, in Delhi’s Civil Lines area, lies approximately 15 kilometres from Patel’s residence on A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road.It was here, on April 21, 1947, that Patel addressed the civil servants of a country on the threshold of Independence, speaking to them about the importance of swaraj and good governance.
In his address, Patel described the civil services as the “steel frame of India”. He meant that civil servants working at different levels of government served as the supporting pillars of the country’s administrative machinery.
In 1996, B.D. Santoshi, a Delhi based freedom figfhter told this writer. Patel’s doors were always open to people from all walks of life. He was an exemplar of integrity. He did not even own a house of his own. At the time of his death, his bank account reportedly held just around Rs 200.
The bungalow on A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Road is more than a private property. It is a place connected to the making of modern India, a silent witness to decisions that shaped the

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