Haribhai Patel was an Indian civil servant who played a major role in the issues regarding internal and national security in the first years after the independence of India. From 1977 to 1980, he would serve as the Finance Minister and later the Home Minister of India. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government. ... The Home Minister, or more properly the Minister for Home Affairs, is a position in the Indian Cabinet, at both State and Union levels. ...

Early Life

Haribhai Patel was a Gujarati, who joined the Indian Civil Service after completing his education. Gujarati can mean two distinct things: The Gujarati language is a language spoken in India and Pakistan, mostly in and around the Gujarat state. ... ...

Cabinet Secretary

H.M. Patel became cabinet secretary to the Ministry for Home Affairs under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1946, serving till 1950. He was the head of the Emergency Committee administering Delhi in the days following the outbreak of massive violence following the Partition of India. Patel headed the effort to rehabilitate millions of Hindu and Sikh refugees entering the city, while protecting the Muslims living in the city. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was Deputy Prime Minister of India till his death in 1950 Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (October 31, 1875–December 15, 1950), popularly referred to as Sardar Patel (Sardar stands for Chief or Leader), was an Indian statesman, core leader of the Indian Independence Movement and of the Indian... This article deals with the metropolis of Delhi. ... Britains holdings on the Indian subcontinent were granted independence in 1947 and 1948, becoming four new independent states: India, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Pakistan (including East Pakistan, modern-day Bangladesh). ... A Hindu (also spelt Hindoo) is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hindu religion. ... A Sikh man wearing a turban A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a religious faith originating in the Punjab. ...

He continued as one of India's highest-ranking civil servants till 1959. He would be Patel's closest aide on curbing the communal violence, fighting the first Kashmir war and integrating over 500 princely states into the Union, under Patel's leadership with V.P. Menon. Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... Vapal Pangunni Menon was an Indian civil servant who played a vital role in the Partition of India and the integration of independent India, between 1945 to 1950. ...

Patel was a fervent admirer of Patel, and a critic of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He wrote two books, Rites of Passage: A Civil Servant Remembers and The First Flush of Freedom: Recollections and Reflections. Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit/Seena (Scholar, Teacher) Nehru, was one of the most important leaders of the Indian Independence Movement and the Indian National Congress, and became the first Prime Minister of India when India won its independence on...

Political Career

H.M. Patel became the Chairman of the Gujarat Electricity Board and was a trustee and supporter of the Vallabh Vidyanagar University in Anand. Vallabh Vidyanagar, also Vallabh Vidhyanagar, is a town in Gujarat state of western India. ... The speciality of the word Anand is that it has no antonym, which is why it is commonly used in reference to those who have attained enlightenment. ...

He also joined the Swatantra Party of Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, which was committed to free market economic policies, and critical of the socialist policies of Jawaharlal Nehru. Swatantra Party (swatantra in Hindi means independence) was a political party in India founded by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari in 1959. ... Rajaji Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (December 1878 - December 25, 1972), known as or Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian lawyer, writer, statesman and a Hindu spiritualist. ... Jawaharlal Nehru (जवाहरलाल नेहरू, Javāharlāl Nehrū) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964), also called Pandit/Seena (Scholar, Teacher) Nehru, was one of the most important leaders of the Indian Independence Movement and the Indian National Congress, and became the first Prime Minister of India when India won its independence on...

Janata

Following the defeat of Indira Gandhi's Congress Party in the 1977 elections that ended the Indian Emergency, H.M. Patel was appointed the Finance Minister by the new Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who was leading India's first non-Congress administration. He changed many of India's socialist economic policies, ending barriers to foreign investment and reducing tariffs while protecting home industries. He was responsible for the policy that all foreign companies must form corporations with an Indian company holding 50% stake, which caused Coca Cola to pull out of India, but most others did not. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Emergency was a period of Indian history when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and effectively ruled by decree for nineteen months in 1975-1977. ... Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (मोरारजी देसाई) (February 29, 1896 – April 10, 1995) was an Indian freedom fighter and the first non-Congress Party Prime Minister of India. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ...

Patel was later appointed Home Minister in the administration of Charan Singh, who briefly succeeded Desai in 1979. Charan Singh could mean Choudhary Charan Singh, the former prime minister of India or Charan Singh (guru), the late Charan Singh of Radhasoami Satsang Beas. ...

Anecdotes

For one of the meetings of the Swatantra party, Patel had to sit outside the gate of Dhuvaran Thermal Station, on a concrete bench below a tree, though he was the Chairman of GEB earlier. When he was asked inside after the meeting he refused saying that his position is different. He was thus very principled.

See Also

• Sardar Patel, Partition of India
• Indian Emergency, Janata Party, Morarji Desai