Learnt from the book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet… https://t.co/pP3kXio9T9 — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 1581519462000

Exercise of writing history for politics in the past needs honest treatment. "When Sardar died, a deliberate campa… https://t.co/E9snB3YMOg — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 1581519475000

Some Foreign Ministers do read books. May be a good habit for some Professors too. In that case, strongly recommend… https://t.co/22yaeIK7fF — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 1581575795000

NEW DELHI: Foreign minister S Jaishankar and historian Ramachandra Guha engaged in a war of tweets, spread out over two days, on whether Jawaharlal Nehru had included the name of Vallabhbhai Patel in his initial list of Cabinet members. Both asked the other to read books on the subject.On Wednesday, the foreign minister had released a biography of V P Menon, a senior civil servant who worked closely with Lord Mountbatten and Patel. He later tweeted in the evening, “Learnt from the book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet list. Clearly, a subject for much debate.” He followed it with another tweet: “Exercise of writing history for politics in the past needs honest treatment.”“When Sardar died, a deliberate campaign was begun to efface his memory. I know this, because I have seen it, and at times, I fell victim to it myself,” he wrote while quoting Menon from the biography.Replying to foreign minister S Jaishankar’s tweet on Thursday morning, Guha presented an opposite view. “This is a myth that has been comprehensively demolished by Professor Srinath Raghavan... Besides, promoting fake news about, and false rivalries between, the builders of modern India is not the job of the foreign minister. He should leave this to the BJP’s IT cell,” he tweeted on Thursday morning.Jaishankar responded within two hours, writing, “Some foreign ministers do read books. May be a good habit for some professors too. In that case, strongly recommend the one I released yesterday.”The historian then shared a picture of the letter Nehru wrote to Patel, inviting him to join the first Cabinet of free India, calling him the “strongest pillar” of that Cabinet. “Can someone show this to @DrSJaishankar please?” he wrote around 1pm, also tagging the foreign minister’s verified handle. He also asked the minister to “consult” more books.“Sir, since you have a Ph D from JNU you must surely have read more books than me. Among them must have been the published correspondence of Nehru and Patel which documents how Nehru wanted Patel as the ‘strongest pillar’ of his first Cabinet. Do consult those books again,” he tweeted around 2.30pm.The biography is authored by historian Narayani Basu, who later tweeted, “We could sit around & debate this Cabinet list deal all day. At this point, I’m dropping out of it. It is no use fuelling a political fire, simply to hijack the story of a man who played a key role in modern Indian history & deserves his day in the sun.”