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gap between the two groups, however was not so wide as not to be
partly bridged. While, for instance, Jawaharlal's father, Motilal
Nehru, joined the freedom movement under Mahatma Gandhi leadership,
his first cousins used their considerable influence to secure entry
into the elite Indian Civil Service - the famous steel frame of the
empires - for their sons. Both were to hold important positions
under Nehru as prime minister.
As independent India's first home
minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel recognized the need to reassure
the bureaucracy and to win its willing cooperation for the
consolidation of India's freedom. He took steps to do both. Nehru,
as was his wont, continued to castigate the bureaucracy for its
unresponsiveness to popular aspirations and needs. But he did
something for it which neither the Sardar nor any Congress leader we
know of would have done. In the name of development, equality and
prevention of accumulation of too much wealth in the hands of a few
business houses, he placed the economy under its control and
therefore as its disposal.
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