New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel died in the early hours of Wednesday, a little over a month after testing positive for Covid-19.
In a tweet at 4:00 am, his son Faisal Patel said, “After testing positive for Covid-19 around a month back, his health worsened due to multiple organ failures.”
— Faisal Patel (@mfaisalpatel) November 24, 2020
The 71-year-old had been battling in the ICU of Gurugram’s Medanta hospital, where he was admitted last week after his health deteriorated significantly.
In a statement expressing grief on his demise, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said she has “lost an irreplaceable comrade, a faithful colleague, and a friend”. Patel had earlier served as Gandhi’s political secretary.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called him a “pillar of the Congress party” and a “tremendous asset”. “He lived and breathed Congress and stood with the party through its most difficult times,” Gandhi wrote.
It is a sad day. Shri Ahmed Patel was a pillar of the Congress party. He lived and breathed Congress and stood with the party through its most difficult times. He was a tremendous asset.
We will miss him. My love and condolences to Faisal, Mumtaz & the family. pic.twitter.com/sZaOXOIMEX
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 25, 2020
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Chief strategist, election master
Born in Gujarat’s Bharuch, Patel began his career by contesting the area’s local body elections in 1976. From then, it was a steady rise for the politician who went on to become a three-time Lok Sabha MP and a five-time Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat.
In 1985, then PM Rajiv Gandhi chose Patel to serve as the party’s parliamentary secretary — a coveted role.
His 2017 feat of reserving his Rajya Sabha seat defeating BJP’s efforts, after a thrilling contest played out in the House, continues to be cited as an example of Patel’s political astuteness, quick-thinking and grit.
Besides being a crisis manager, Patel was also the chief party strategist in the run up to any major election.
“He was many roles moulded into one. He had been instrumental in stitching alliances in the past, across various states. He was one leader who had his ear close to the ground, so he knew seat-sharing, ticket distribution, and how to accommodate everyone all too well,” said an All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary.
“So, if anyone felt dejected after not getting a party ticket, he would know how to get that person accommodated in another foray. This is an important skill-set in both pre- and post-election scenarios,” added the leader on condition of anonymity.
Patel’s absence would be felt by the Congress especially with five assembly elections slated for 2021 — West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala — for which the party’s poll strategies are yet to be finalised.
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‘Most powerful’ after Sonia and Rahul
In his illustrious career lasting nearly five decades, Patel was a one-man army for the Congress on many occasions, also having earned the title of the party’s undisputed ‘trouble-shooter’.
Having served as Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) era, Patel continued to enjoy great proximity to the leader, and was seen as her ‘right-hand man’.
Most recently, Patel helped avert the crisis triggered by the rebellion of Sachin Pilot and 19 other Congress MLAs in Rajasthan, which threatened to unseat the Ashok Gehlot government in the state.
Patel is believed to have met the rebels, and not just assuaged Pilot’s grievances but also served as mediator between him and Gehlot.
“When he would sit down with an aggrieved leader, and give them reassurance, it was difficult for the leader to say no to him. After Sonia ji and Rahul ji, he was inarguably the most important and powerful person in the party,” a Rajasthan Congress leader told ThePrint.
Last year, the Rajya Sabha MP helped forge the unlikely alliance between the Congress-National Congress party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. The alliance kept the BJP out of office even though it emerged as the single-largest party in the election.
“It showed courage of conviction and this ability to take decisions on the go. Even though our party’s role in the alliance is limited, it was important to stop the BJP, and he (Patel) recognised that,” another party leader said.
Over the last fortnight, with Sonia not keeping well for some time, followed by Patel’s hospitalisation, the party has seen some stagnancy in decision-making.
For instance, a six-member ‘special committee’ set up by Sonia in September, in the aftermath of the letter written by 23 leaders of the party demanding an active leadership, held a meeting this month to discuss the Bihar results but it did not particularly lead to any concrete conclusion or decisions, said a third Congress leader.
Patel was a key member of the committee, which was supposed to aid and assist Sonia.
While Patel was hospitalised, Sonia took some time off in Goa to escape Delhi’s toxic air, accompanied by son Rahul Gandhi. In their absence, there wasn’t anyone to perform the role of arbiter or decision-maker at the moment.
With Patel now gone, this void is likely to get worse.
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‘No fight that could not be resolved at his home’
Party leaders also said Patel was the go-to man when it came to building consensus — a role all too valuable for the Congress at this point as it grapples with the cracks caused by the party’s performance in the Bihar assembly elections.
“He was the one-window grievance redressal forum and aspiration fulfilment forum. From a block president to a state’s CM — everyone knew that if there was one person who could solve their grievances, it was him,” the AICC leader quoted above said.
Patel played the role of “unifier of different factions”, the leader said. “There was no fight that could not be resolved at his home.”
Role as treasurer
Patel, who served as Congress treasurer from 1996 to 2000, took over the charge again in 2018 after the party’s accounts seemed to be drying up.
He is credited for streamlining nationwide membership drives, as a means to increase party cadre strength as well as helping add money to the party’s account.
Besides conducting membership drives, and trying to consolidate funds, Patel also played a role in day-to-day affairs, like fixing meetings between members of the party and the top leadership, said party sources.
“Sonia ji and Rahul ji aren’t very easily accessible. So, it is he (Patel) who acts as a conduit via which there was some possibility to meet them in case of emergencies,” said a fourth leader who didn’t wish to be named.
Patel was also the person who decided who will be invited to various party meetings, and what role they would play, the leader added. “He was very well-networked, within the party as well as outside of it, so his role was pretty much irreplaceable.”
Despite not being a minister in either of the UPA’s terms at the Centre, Patel’s power in the party was unparalleled. He tried to keep his image low-profile, away from the gaze of the media — avoiding as much scrutiny as possible.
In the last few years, however, Patel was questioned several times by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering and bank fraud involving the Gujarat-based Sterling Group.
However, Patel had repeatedly denied all charges terming it “political vendetta”.
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I think it’s not a coincidence that Sonia Gandhi as the top leader and Ahmed Patel as her right hand man are solely responsible for Congress’ downfall.
India is a Hindu majority country. Period. Giving the command of India’s GOP to non-Hindus who couldn’t read the pulse of the majority has ruined the party’s image and popularity among the people. You pi$$ed of Hindus and now even the minority votebank is drifting towards good for nothing showboaters like Owaisi.
His profile by the author makes him look more like a good fixer than a sharp strategist or a great politician. That alliance in Maharashtra will haunt both Congress and Shiv Sena for a foreseeable future.
Don’t get me wrong, may his soul rest in peace. My condolences to his family but as far as politics is concerned maybe his departure will bring some good news for Congress.
In UPA I &II most influential people were Sonia Gandhi[Christian}, Ahmed Patel { Muslim], Ambika Soni { Christian], Manmohan Singh [Sikh] and token Hindu Pranab Mukherjee and Hamid Ansari [Muslim].
No wonder Hindus rejected Congress after realizing that Congress is under steady domination by minorities and Hindus in Congress were simply beast of burden.
Rest in peace. Worth more, in his sleep, than all the odd characters RG – more recently PGV as well – has surrounded himself with.
Ahmed Patel is a power center and backroom manipulator. Congress the minority appeasing party never gave power to hindus.
Interesting choice of words in the eulogy by Sonia Gandhi in with “comrade”.
Yet another reason, in the long line of reasons, why it is difficult to vote for the Congress with the Gandhis at the helm. They should retire from politics at the earliest for the sake of the Congress, nay, the country.
Soniaji and Rahulji are both incompetent and dumb. So they needed Ahemd Patel as conduit.
Ahmed Patel was the one who engineered multifaceted campaigan against Narendra Modi post-Gujarat riots. Probably, he even engineered Godhra train burning. Good riddance. Death of congress will be expedited.