Have a question for Sardar Patel? Culture Ministry has some answers

• “Why did you suggest the ban on RSS?”
• “What would you have done if you were the country’s first Prime Minister instead of Jawaharlal Nehru?”
• “How was your relationship with Mahatma Gandhi?”

SARDAR Vallabhbhai Patel digs deep and comes up with answers – to tricky questions as the ones above, or those hewing more to current times. Independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, who some believe should have been its first PM, has a pride of place in the Capital’s Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) now as a ‘holobox’, fielding questions.
The lifesize AI avatar is in Patel’s trademark dhoti-kurta and jacket, with a shawl over the shoulders, black rubber chappals on the feet, and arms folded across the chest.
The trove of information at the holobox Patel’s disposal are authorised archives on him sourced from public libraries and government organisations, including audio and video, by PMML officials, and answers in the Congress leader’s own voice, after greeting visitors with: “Namaskar, mein Sardar Patel hoon.”
Once known as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the institution has been expanded under the Narendra Modi government to include all the PMs who have served the country – and, as of last week, Patel, whom the current regime most closely identifies with, as the one who “unified” the country post-Partition.
But wasn’t it Patel who banned the BJP’s ideological fountainhead RSS as Union Home Minister? The holobox answers: “The suggestion for the ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came only after Mahatma Gandhi was killed by someone who claimed to be associated with the organisation.”
Furthermore, the holobox says: “I suggested imposing a ban on the RSS in the aftermath of Gandhi’s assassination with a clear intention to investigate the truth. After a thorough investigation, I concluded that RSS as an organisation had no part in the conspiracy to kill Mahatma Gandhi… After imposing the ban, I engaged with the RSS leadership, including ‘Guruji’ M S Golwalkar, and sought assurances that the organisation will work within the framework of the Constitution.”
In July 1949, one-and-a-half years after Mahatma Gandhi’s killing, the ban on the RSS was lifted.
The Congress has objected to the BJP’s bids to lay claim to Patel, calling it an attempt to erase the fact that the party had no role in the freedom movement. In April, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Patel’s ideology was contrary to the RSS’s ideas and the Sangh attempts to claim his legacy were “laughable”.
So how does the holobox view the belief – mostly among the Right, including RSS followers – that Patel would have handled things differently than Nehru as PM? The answer is cautious: “My focus would have been on national unity and ensuring the integration of diverse communities. I would have prioritised agricultural and industrial development to uplift the economy and empower the common man.”
To a more direct question on the integration of princely states with India, which Patel as Home Minister took the lead on, the holobox gives Nehru some credit. “Most of the princely states recognised the benefit of joining a united India. Through dialogue, persuasion and understanding, we addressed concerns.” Nehru, it adds, played “a supporting role in the process… addressing the concerns of even the smaller states that their interests will be taken care of”.
On his relationship with Mahatma Gandhi, who is believed to have favoured Nehru as the first PM of a free India, Patel’s holobox says: “Our bond was very deep, as we worked together for India’s Independence. On several occasions, we had differences of opinion, but that only made our relationship stronger.”

The holobox

PMML officials say that already around 20 visitors to the museum stop by to interact with Patel’s holobox daily, asking their questions in Hindi or English into a mic. They expect the number to rise, as more people become aware of the holobox. PMML gets more than a thousand visitors daily, with numbers going up over the weekends.
The holobox has been built by Gurugram-based Vizara Technologies, and once a question is asked, the tech support scans a multitude of websites, archives and digital material uploaded for the purpose, to quickly frame answers and replicate them in Patel’s voice.
A statement issued by the Union Ministry of Culture on September 17, at the time of the holobox’s launch, said: “For the first time, visitors will be able to have lifelike, interactive conversations with a hyper-realistic 3D avatar of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India.”
The museum is planning to expand the initiative, and starting next month, a section on the ground floor called ‘A Conversation with Visionaries’ will have an AI-powered holobox of the late President A P J Abdul Kalam.
The September 17 launch date for Patel had its significance too. It was on this day in 1948 that the princely state of Hyderabad was freed from the Nizam’s rule and integrated into the Indian Union. The Culture Ministry statement underlined Patel’s role in this, adding: “Two years later, on 17th September 1950, Narendra Modi ji was born, who decades later would emerge as a leader dedicated to further strengthening this very spirit of unity and integrity under the vision of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.”
Says PMML Director Ashwani Lohani: “This AI-powered holobox is more than just a technological marvel. It is a bridge between the past and the present – an effort to make the wisdom of our great leaders accessible and engaging to younger generations. Sardar Patel unified India geographically; through this, we aspire to unify India’s youth with its historical consciousness.”
And so, while the holobox is technically equipped to answer only questions pertaining to Patel’s life and times, till his death in December 1950, visitors can ask questions pertaining to current politics too.
“How would you deal with challenges facing the country today?” a curious visitor wanted to know Saturday.
The answer did not disappoint: “I am not aware of the current challenges, but if I were a leader today, I would focus on fostering unity and cooperation among diverse communities and would prioritise national interest over individual or party agendas.”