Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel He was born on 31 October 1875 in Nadi, Gujarat. A successful lawyer by profession, his career took a turning point when Mahatma Gandhi selected him as his deputy to lead the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918. Patel led the Satyagraha movement in Nagpur in 1923 against the British law prohibiting the hoisting of the Indian flag. In 1924, he was elected as the Chairman of the Ahmedabad Municipal Board. On assuming office, he renovated the drainage, sanitation, cleanliness and water supply systems of Ahmedabad. It was his role in the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928 that elevated him to a new peak of national glory. It was here that he earned the title of 'Sardar'. At the time of independence, India had 17 British Indian provinces, and the princely states, which constituted two-fifths of the country's geographical area, numbered over 560. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel intervened to ensure the incorporation of the princely states into the Indian Union and to integrate them. He was appointed as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India from 1947 to 1950. He also served as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
