In the run-up to independence, a vile plan was devised by a handful of powerful princes to not join either India or Pakistan. The plan was led by the chancellor of the chamber of princes, Nawab of Bhopal, who was operating under the patronage of Mohd. Ali Jinnah, Lord Wavell and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The idea was to create a Third Dominion called Princestan where the 565 princely states would stay outside the ambit of the two free states and retain paramountcy under the aegis of the departing British. The success of such a malevolent plan would have made the newly independent nation unstable and vulnerable.
However, three persons stood in the way of the nefarious British plan to balkanize India.
This is the hitherto untold story of how Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Patel battled the rulers of the princely states at every twist and turn to foil that cunning plan, even as the process of decolonization had begun.
About the Author - SANDEEP BAMZAI is a news junkie, having worked across all major news platforms in positions of eminence for the last thirty-seven years. He began his career as a cricket writer with The Statesman in Kolkata. He has worked in Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi with the biggest media houses. The last decade has seen him on the news frontline as Executive Editor at TV Today, Editor at Mail Today, Editor-in-Chief and COO at Financial Chronicle and, currently, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of independent newswire IANS. He has also worked at The Indian Express, Illustrated Weekly, Business India, and Hindustan Times—a life he describes as a ‘fulfilling journey’. An alumnus of the prestigious St Columba’s in Delhi, he graduated in Economics from the University of Calcutta. He has written four books, including Guts & Glory: The Bombay Cricket Story and Deconstructing the Accession: Bonfire of Kashmiriyat. Over the last 20 years, he has been focusing on the space where politics and economy merge.
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