While most of the senior leaders lost election in 1977, the young Ahmed Patel won
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel died on Wednesday morning after battling Coronavirus infection. The Congress stalwart was one of the closest advisors to the President of the oldest political party of India, Congress. He took his last breath in Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon around 4 am. His son Faisal Patel informed through a tweet that the Rajya Sabha MP from Gujrat had multiple organ failure which worsened his health. Ahmed Patel was one of those leaders who kept low-profile but played an important role in the government. Below are the key highlights of the Ahmed Patel’s life.
Key highlights of Ahmed Patel’s life
Ahmed Patel was the go-to-man for Congress at the time of crisis who quietly wielded power and meticulously executed decisions of the leadership. He served as the effective link between Congress party and the government during the two terms of the UPA government from 2004 to 2014.
Patel as a secretary of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had access to such extent in the party that no other leader in the party had. Ahmed Patel worked with interim-President Sonia Gandhi for 16 years and rose in stature with time. He worked the channels to work out various issues. His rapport as the strategist and relationship with the party leaders across generations came in handy while executing decisions. He acted as a bridge between the top leadership and the party functionaries at all levels.
He also played the role of link with political leaders of other parties. While we know that he played an important role in the functioning of UPA government for two consecutive terms, very few know that he ensured that Congress remains the main force as the opposition when the party was not in power. He used to work closely with other parties during joint programs against BJP and its allies of NDA.
Just after the Emergency, when there was anti-incumbency against Indira Gandhi’s Congress, Ahmed Patel was asked to contest from the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in the 1977 general elections. When many big leaders lost, a young Ahmed Patel, at the age of just 25 years won the election and became an MP.
Read more: How failure of Congress as a strong opposition has weakened democracy
Political achievements of Ahmed Patel
Patel represented Congress in the Rajya Sabha five times since 1993. Based on his excellent organizational skills, he was appointed as the secretary of the Jawahar Bhawan Trust in 1988. Then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi asked him to supervise the construction of Jawahar Bhawan in New Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi appointed Patel as the party treasurer in August 2018 ahead of the Lok Sabha election as the party was in a fund-crunch situation. He became unhappy when a group of 23 Congress leaders, some very popular names wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi asking for a revamp of the party instead of saying this in person.
Anam Sultan Khan, a young member of Congress in Bihar said “It is a big loss for Congress Party as he had served the interests of the party for a long time. Today, we have lost a strong strategist who kept the UPA government running for 10 years without a full-majority government.
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