Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir or not, Patel asked Nehru in 1948

"This seemed to have shaken Nehru out of his complacent mood and mellowed his opposition. Later, at a meeting attended by the Governor General (Rajagopalachari), the Prime Minister, the Home Minister (Patel), and Secretary to the state's Ministry (Menon), it was decided to order troops into Hyderabad," he said, citing excerpts from the book.

Advani recently created a controversy when he quoted the memoirs of a 1947-batch IAS officer M K K Nair that in the Cabinet meeting, when Patel had said police action will have to be taken against Hyderabad, Nehru had called him a "total communalist". Nair's book also says that Patel had then collected his papers and walked out.