Muslim League orchestrated two attacks on Sardar Patel, but Congress kept it ‘hidden’ for 86 years: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday alleged that the Muslim League had orchestrated two attacks on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1939, claiming that the Congress kept the “uncomfortable truth” hidden for 86 years.

“The Special Court convicted 34 of 57 accused – two given death sentences. But after independence, Congress historians erased the case from textbooks and archives. No one dared to mention the Muslim League’s role or Congress’s cowardly silence,” it said.

The BJP said the first attack was carried out on January 20, 1939, in Vadodara, Gujarat. “As Sardar Patel’s procession passed through Mandvi, Muslim League-backed goons shouted ‘Sardar Go Back!’ and pelted stones at his car. The Prajamandal office was set ablaze – a state-sponsored attempt to silence Patel’s rising influence. Congress? Muted. The next day, Sardar urged peace and restraint. But the Vadodara regime staged a fake inquiry and shut the case,” it said.

Also read:Sardar Patel’s vision and the meaning of national unity today

“This was just the beginning. The Muslim League’s goon squads were already planning something deadlier in Bhavnagar. Bhavnagar – May 14, 1939: As Patel arrived to lead the Fifth Praja Parishad, a mob affiliated with the Muslim League, allegedly supported by the local princely establishment, attacked his peaceful procession from the Nagina Masjid. It was a pre-planned conspiracy,” said the party.

In another post, the party said “patriots Bachu Virji and Jadavji Modi were martyred protecting Sardar. Dozens injured. Yet Patel addressed the gathering that evening – with calm resolve and tribute to the fallen. Even after such violence, he never abandoned the path of unity”.

Stating that the attack on Sardar Patel was not just an assault on a man, but on India’s unity, the BJP said: “For 86 years, this truth was buried to protect political convenience. It took historian Rizwan Kadri to bring it to light – a reminder that even during the freedom struggle, Sardar Patel fought not just the British, but internal betrayal.”