Menon, who did the actual groundwork of coaxing them. If Patel was the one who laid out the initial framework for persuading the princes to join, it was his alert and intelligent secretary, V.P. He also introduced the concept of ‘privy purses’ as a payment to be made to the families of the princes for their agreement to integrate with India. On other occasions he reminded them of the possibility of anarchy and on event of their refusal to join. Patel often invoked the patriotism of the princes in his attempt to convince them to join India. Between them, they produced a draft instrument of accession which would be signed by the princes as an agreement to transfer control of defence, foreign affairs and communications to the Congress government. Menon, were given the task of negotiating with the princes.
On June 27, 1947, he was made the minister in charge of the new States Department. Incidentally, Patel was also the first Congress statesman to have supported Partition as the most viable solution to Muslim separatist movement in India, even though he did not foresee the large scale violence it would lead to. “Through the spring of 1947, Patel threw a series of lunch parties, where he urged his princely guests to help the Congress in framing a new constitution of India,” writes historian Ramachandra Guha in his work, “India after Gandhi.” Often referred to as the “Bismark of India”, Patel was instrumental in bringing India together.
The monumental task therefore fell in the hands of the pragmatic administrator Patel. The princes are known to have been scared of Nehru, and in a lot of cases disliked him as well. While the Congress had made clear their intention of unifying the princely states into the Indian union, the issue of cajoling and convincing the princes was a task that had to be accomplished with much caution and dexterity.
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