Congress cites Maniben Patel’s diary entries, asks Rajnath to apologise for Babri claim

The Congress on Saturday (December 6, 2025) shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel’s daughter, Maniben Patel, from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s claim that India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri Masjid using public funds. The party also demanded that Mr. Singh apologise for spreading “falsehoods”.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh claimed the Defence Minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Here is Maniben’s original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA. R. S. Patel ‘Aaresh’, published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Mr. Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.

“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singhji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” he added.

“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the Prime Minister,” Mr. Ramesh said.

The Congress had earlier termed Mr. Singh’s claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, saying the Defence Minister should not not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s path.

Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat’s Vadodara district last Tuesday, Mr. Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn’t allow his plans to succeed.

The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel’s daughter to double down on Mr. Singh’s claims, saying the first Prime Minister also felt “repelled” by some temples in south India despite their beauty.

“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the ‘Inside Story of Sardar Patel: Diary of Maniben Patel’,” BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.

Mr. Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.