Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with Mumtaz Patel, daughter of late party leader Ahmed Patel and his son Faisel Patel during his last rites, in Vadodara.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was laid to rest at his native village Piraman in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Thursday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of the party's key strategist and troubleshooter, who died on Wednesday. The mortal remains of Patel, who died following COVID-19 complications at the age of 71, was on Wednesday night brought to his native place in Bharuch. The Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, who was undergoing treatment at a Gurugram hospital after testing positive for the COVID-19, breathed his last in the wee hours of Wednesday, after fighting the related complications for over a month.
Patel's mortal remains reached Piraman from Vadodara and he was laid to rest at a Muslim cemetery in the presence of hundreds of locals and Congress leaders. Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, AICC in-charge of Gujarat Rajeev Satav, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Shankersinh Vaghela were among those who attended were present at the funeral.
Patel started his political journey in the Congress Youth Wing and became a highlighted leader during the Janta Party period after Emergency. He was elected as a councillor of Bharuch Municipality of Gujarat at the age of 25 and went on to become the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi. He remained a bridge during the UPA-I tenure between the party and the government.
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He represented Gujarat eight times in the Parliament, including three times in the lower house between 1977-1989. He represented Congress five times in the Upper House since 1993.
(With ANI inputs)
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