Why Gandhi opted for Nehru and not Sardar Patel for PM ?

New Delhi: As Machiavelli wrote -" History is written by the victors". According to this official history, Jawahar Lal Nehru was elected as the first Prime minister of India and Sardar Patel became his deputy and it was all done purely on merit. It's not that the official history does not mention the emergence of Sardar Patel and not Jawahar Lal Nehru as the overwhelming choice of the Congress party to lead India after independence but it has been reduced to mere footnotes and nothing more. Today, on the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh BhaiPpatel, let's revisit the entire intra-party power struggle within Congress on the eve of independence and let's figure out what really went in favour of Jawahar Lal Nehru and what was it that deprived Sardar Patel his moment of glory despite the overwhelming support he enjoyed amongst the Congressmen. The entire rank and file of the Congress looked at Sardar Patel as the most deserving candidate to be sworn in as independent India's first Prime Minister, given his proven track record of being an able administrator and a no-nonsense politician.