Senior Congress leader and the party’s trusted backroom strategist Ahmed Patel died at a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Wednesday due to multiple organ failure more than a month after he tested positive for Covid-19.
His son Faisal took to social media to share that Patel died at 3.30 am at Medanta hospital in Gurugram where he was admitted on November 15 after he developed complications.
Patel’s family urged all well-wishers to adhere to the Covid-19 regulations by avoiding mass gatherings. The veteran Congress leader had himself announced on Twitter on October 1 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and all those who had come in close contact of him should also get tested.
Patel leaves behind his wife, a son and a daughter. Patel will be laid to rest at his paternal village and also his birthplace at Piraman in Gujarat on Thursday.
“AP” to his friends and “Ahmed Bhai” to colleagues, Patel was one of the closest aides of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary for a long time. He was the troubleshooter of the Congress and had steered the party out of ticklish situations many a time.
He was the grand old party’s pointsman for building consensus on key issues with other parties and leaders and was instrumental in steering two UPA Governments under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh.
A soft-spoken and affable man, Patel was well respected and had friends across the aisle and in different spheres. Patel was currently a member of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. He was an eight-time parliamentarian — five times in the Rajya Sabha, three times in the Lok Sabha. His last Rajya Sabha election in 2017 was contested very keenly amid charges of horse-trading. He was currently the Congress treasurer, a post that he occupied thrice.
Patel began his political career by contesting the local body polls in Gujarat’s Bharuch district in 1976. He became a Lok Sabha member in March 1977 and was a member of the sixth, seventh and eighth Lok Sabha till 1989. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in August 1993.
Patel was a close confidant of Rajiv Gandhi and the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister from 1985 to 1986. He later took charge of the Congress’s organisational structure both in Gujarat and at the party high-command. Though Patel never became a Minister, he always worked as the background man in the Congress and was at the centrestage of the party’s decision-making till his death.
“Secrets will travel with me to my grave.” That was Patel’s matter-of-fact response a few months ago when asked if he would pen his memoirs to share his experiences as the party insider with a finger on its power buttons.
Patel’s name cropped in several political scams and scandals and he was also undergoing probes regarding which he always claimed that he will come out clean.
Patel could have been the tell-all leader offering insights and information with his inside view of the workings of the Congress and the political world. But he would have none of it.
Considered both as a crisis manager and consensus builder who never held any grudges, Patel’s last political stroke was stitching an alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra despite the party making grave allegations against him in the past.
He was also a devout Muslim and interestingly would switch mosques every week for Friday prayers because Congress ticket seekers would queue up outside if he went to one mosque regularly.
Patel remained Sonia’s most trusted lieutenant for most of her tenure as the longest serving Congress president, standing by her side through sun and shade. Sonia said she has lost an “irreplaceable comrade, a faithful colleague and a friend”.
Patel was privy to innumerable party secrets, anecdotes and internal decision making. Patel, who kept a low profile, was the perfect organisation man who had an unflappable temperament and was a very effective crisis manager and troubleshooter.
Patel’s importance in the Congress dates back to the days of the late Rajiv. When Rajiv became Prime Minister, he did away with the post of principal secretary to the PM which his mother Indira Gandhi had created for PN Haksar and appointed three parliamentary secretaries -- Patel, Arun Singh and Oscar Fernandes.
The trio -- a photograph of them taking oath as parliamentary secretaries did the rounds on social media on Wednesday -- was famously referred to as ‘Amar, Akbar, Anthony’.
Just three months ago, in August, Patel had stepped in to quell a rebellion. His firm rejection of the public stand taken by 23 party leaders against Sonia helped the Congress Working Committee snub the demand for replacement of a Gandhi as party chief and repose faith in her presidency after she offered to quit.