India's "Lohpurush" -- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel never contested election in independent India !!

 General elections were held in India between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952, the first after India attained independence in 1947.

For Rajya Sabha, elections were held in 1952 to elect members from various states of Independent India. Dr S Radhakrishnan was the First Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, also the First Vice President of the Nation. 

Born on Oct 31, 1875, Sardar Patel expired on Dec 15, 1950. 

This also means something unique -- India's "Lohpurush" -- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel never contested election in independent India. 

In 1931 Patel was 'elected' as the President of Indian National Congress in its Karachi session where the party deliberated its future path. Congress committed itself towards the defense of fundamental and human rights. It was in this session that the dream of a "secular nation" was conceived.

Sardar Patel’s four family members fought elections: son Dahyabhai, daughter Maniben, daughter-in-law Bhanumati and her businessman-brother Pashabhai Patel.

As per Dahyabhai’s own account in the preface of his book Rajyasabha maan Pahelun Varsha (First Year in Rajya Sabha), he was all set to fight the 1957 Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate. The president of Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee was also eager to field him as a candidate. Although Gujarat didn’t come into existence as a separate state then, the Congress had separate linguistic units for long.

"But according to Dahyabhai, the Congress under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not willing to acknowledge Sardar Patel’s contribution and it became all too apparent at the annual session of Congress in January 1957. 

A member wanted to propose that Sardar Patel’s contribution be mentioned in the document at the Indore annual session of the Congress party. But the idea was dropped. And, this prompted Dahyabhai to leave the Congress the same year," reports The Print. 

Maniben, daughter of Sardar Patel, lived in her father’s shadow during his lifetime. After Sardar’s death, she plunged into electoral politics even before brother Dahyabhai did. She fought the first Lok Sabha election (1952) from Kheda (South) constituency as a Congress candidate and won with a margin of 59,298 votes. 

Maniben stayed on with the Congress even after Dahyabhai left it, and won the 1957 Lok Sabha election from Anand constituency with a margin of 37,429 votes.

The new 'Swatantra Party' was floated in 1959 chiefly by Sardar loyalists. Son Dahyabhai also joined Swantatra Party, but Maniben’s loyalty towards the Congress remained. 

The 1962 Lok Sabha elections were the first after the formation of the Gujarat state in 1960.

During the 1962 Lok Sabha elections, Dahyabhai was already a Rajya Sabha MP. 

So, his wife Bhanumati Patel (Sardar's bahu) and brother-in-law Pashabhai Patel were fielded by Swatantra Party for the seats of Bhavnagar and Sabarkantha respectively. 

Bhanumati Patel, caught in a triangular contest between the Congress, the Praja Socialist Party and her own Swatantra Party, lost badly. She won just 14,774 (7.35 per cent) votes and lost her deposit.

Her brother Pashabhai also lost, but more respectably. He gave a good fight to his opponent Gulzarilal Nanda, a union minister, and lost by 24,609 votes.