On November 25, 2020, senior Congress leader and the party’s top strategist, Ahmed Patel breathed his last at 71 due to complications arising out of Covid-19.
Patel was handpicked as a Parliamentary Secretary by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. He had represented the Bharuch constituency thrice (1977, 1980, and 1984) as a Lok Sabha member, and entered the Rajya Sabha in 1993, after his defeat in the 1989 Lok Sabha election. He rendered his services as the powerful political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, working as the quintessential backroom strategist during the 10-year rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Patel steered the party out of difficult situations many a time. He was an eight-time parliamentarian—five times in the Rajya Sabha, three times in the Lok Sabha. At the time of his death, he was party treasurer, a post that he occupied thrice due to his ability to reach out to corporate and political leaders.
He was alleged to have been involved in the cash-for-vote scandal when the BJP alleged that cash was offered to MPs ahead of the Left-sponsored no-confidence vote against the UPA. However, the probe did not find anything against him.