The Congress on Friday dismissed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s allegation of “vote chori” by Jawaharlal Nehru as a “blatant lie”, citing historian-author Rajmohan Gandhi’s detailed clarification on the events surrounding the 1946 Congress presidential election.
Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh shared on X a video clip of Rajmohan Gandhi — grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari — in which he explained that the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) had recommended Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for the post of Congress president in 1946, but the question of prime ministership did not arise at that time.
According to Rajmohan Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had remained Congress president since 1940 because the party had been banned and many leaders jailed during the Quit India Movement. In 1946, when the time came to elect a new president, several PCCs proposed the name of Sardar Patel and a few suggested Acharya Kriplani, but none recommended Nehru.
He emphasised that the PCC recommendations were strictly for the Congress presidency and not for determining the future prime minister. “There was no agreement with the British yet, and the question of who would be PM did not come up,” he said.
He explained the tradition under which Gandhi would examine the suggested names and ask candidates to withdraw where necessary. Accordingly, both Patel and Kriplani withdrew their names at Gandhi’s request, and the Working Committee subsequently proposed Nehru as Congress president.
Rajmohan Gandhi asserted that when the interim government was formed, Nehru — as Congress president — was naturally invited to become prime minister. He further said that historical records show no dissatisfaction among leaders or the public regarding Nehru’s appointment. “People were very happy with Nehru becoming PM and Sardar Patel himself was in favour of it,” he noted.
He cited a speech delivered by Patel in Indore in October 1950 in which Patel endorsed Nehru’s leadership, calling Gandhi’s decision to select him “the right one.”
The Congress had strongly rebutted Shah’s claim on Thursday, calling it a “lie” and a “figment of imagination,” after Shah told the Lok Sabha that 28 PCC votes had gone to Patel and only two to Nehru, yet Nehru became prime minister
