Patel decided to handle the affair on his own. It was arranged that the Indian army should march into Hyderabad state in the early hours of 13th September 1950. But just at this crucial moment Jinnah died on 12 September. Patel was advised by the British Commander-in-Chief, General Bucher, to postpone the operation lest India’s enemies linked the operation with Jinnah’s death. Patel did not agree and ‘Operation Polo’, as it was called, started as scheduled on the 13th.
