Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivered a sensational revelation on Tuesday, asserting that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had actively pressed for the reconstruction of the Babri Masjid using public exchequer funds, a proposal that was single-handedly blocked by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who categorically refused to allow government money to be diverted for the purpose.

Addressing thousands at a massive Unity March organised in Gujarat to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, Singh declared that the Iron Man of India drew a clear line of principle: while privately collected donations of ₹30 lakh were legitimately used for the restoration of the Somnath Temple through an independent trust without touching a single government rupee, the same standard must apply to any religious structure, including the Babri Masjid.

The Union Minister contrasted this with the recently consecrated Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which was built entirely through voluntary contributions from millions of citizens without any state funding, hailing both instances as exemplars of authentic secularism where the government remains equidistant from all faiths and taxpayer money is never deployed for religious construction.

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Singh also revisited the pivotal 1946 Congress presidential election, reminding the audience that twelve out of fifteen provincial committees had overwhelmingly nominated Sardar Patel for the post, yet Patel instantly withdrew his candidature the moment Mahatma Gandhi requested him to step aside for Nehru, demonstrating an extraordinary act of selflessness that placed national interest far above personal ambition.

Concluding his address, the Defence Minister asserted that for decades certain political quarters deliberately marginalised Patel’s monumental contributions, but it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who decisively corrected historical injustice by erecting the world’s tallest Statue of Unity and ensuring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel now occupies his rightful place as the undisputed architect of a united and strong India.

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