AHMEDABAD: The Iron Man of India,

never wanted a memorial in his name, neither did he want to own property.

"Though his contemporaries

and

each had a samadhi in their honor in Delhi - Raj Ghat and Shantivan - respectively, Patel insisted that no such thing should exist after his death. Patel wanted to die a commoner's death and was cremated in Sonapur public cremation ground in Bombay in December 1952," claims city-based historian

.

Very few know that Sardar mostly lived in rented houses in Ahmedabad and while president of the Ahmedabad municipality in 1927, Sardar booked a plot for his children for Rs 250 in the New Samasth Brahmashatriya Society adjacent to the earlier

society in March that year. "Sardar, however, gave away possession as he did not have the Rs 3,000 needed to construct a bungalow for himself and he never believed in owning property," said Kadri.

The Shahibaug palace which was converted to a national memorial for Sardar Patel was earlier the

's house and had once hosted Queen Elizabeth in January 31, 1961, while she was on a state visit. The palace was de-listed along with

Sarai in the walled city for government office use in the early 1920s and was one of the first historical buildings to be de-listed. Beside this, a senior lawyer of the Gujarat

Haru Mehta contested in the High Court that the palace was a Gujarat government's property and that there was an agreement between the state and the existing Sardar Vallabhai Patel society that the palace should not be used for commercial purposes or activities other than those related to preserving Sardar Patel's life and times. The premises presently are also being let out, and used for a community hall and for conferences.