Former Tripura governor Tathagata Roy Saturday paid rich tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for being instrumental in the integration of princely states into India and said he could have changed the demographic look of the country had the proper population exchange taken place during the birth of East Pakistan. In a webinar organised by PIB Kolkata titled Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his Vision to Make India Atmanirbhar, Roy lauded the vision of Sardar Patel and said he was instrumental in the integration of more than 560 princely states into the Indian dominion which gave the country a unified look.
For this he is also called the Bismarck of India, he said. He also pointed out the diplomatic acumen of Sardar Patel seen in his ability to convince almost all princely states to merge with the exception of Junagarh, Hyderabad and Tripura. A plebiscite held later had produced a 99.5 per cent vote for merger with India, On the exchange of population during the birth of East Pakistan, he said the true population exchange did not occur then. "Several Hindus were bound to leave that country for India and had it happened in reality, Sardar Patel could have changed the demographic look of the country totally.
According to Ambuj Mahanti, a retired professor of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Sardar Patel provided the idea of savings by minimising waste to make the country self-sufficient or Atmanirbhar. The principal director general of Press Information Bureau, Rabindranath Mishra, gave the welcome speech at the webinar.
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