New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, in her memoir ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, remembered her closest political adviser, late Ahmed Patel, saying that his death left a “vacuum in the party” and an absence that she personally felt.
However, Sonia Gandhi got Patel’s death year wrong in her book, released on Tuesday, mentioning it as 2022, instead of 2020, when he died due to Covid-related complications.
“He (Ahmed Patel) remained my political secretary till sadly he fell victim to the Covid epidemic in 2022, leaving a vacuum in the party and an absence I felt personally,” she wrote about Patel.
Ahmed Patel, also the Congress’ former Treasurer, had tested positive for the Covid-19 on October 1, 2020 and had been admitted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on November 15. He died 10 days later, on November 25.
However, the book wrongly mentions Ahmed Patel’s death year as 2022.
Ahmed Patel, “AP” as he was called in the party, was believed to be part of every key decision made by Sonia Gandhi.
He was the Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and had also advised former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi.
As a Youth Congress leader, Patel was chosen at 28 by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from Bharuch in Gujarat.
Patel reportedly refused to join the government and preferred to remain behind the scenes, advising Sonia Gandhi on alliances, political strategy and party crises.
“A loyal party colleague, approachable day and night, he (Ahmed Patel) came to play an important role as a troubleshooter, ready to listen patiently to disgruntled colleagues. Deeply religious but secular to the core in his politics, he kept a low profile while functioning as a coordinator between our party and our allies,” the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson said in her memoir.
While mourning Patel’s death in 2020, Sonia Gandhi wrote she lost an “irreplaceable comrade, faithful colleague and friend”.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders, on Tuesday, welcomed the veteran leader’s memoir, describing it as an important literary work and saying that it offers insights into her personal and political journey.
(IANS)
