Patel, 71, who was critical for a few days, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications. His son Faisal said he died at 3.30 am.
Ahmed Patel, the most powerful man in the Congress party after the Gandhis, speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in a rare and exclusive interview.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
Sources claim Rahul Gandhi has been feeling uneasy about the alleged links between some corporate houses and some ministers.
Faisal Patel, son of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel, has announced he will stop working for the grand old party, claiming that he tried to follow in his father's footsteps but was denied at every step. Ahmed Patel, who had served as a Rajya Sabha MP, All Indian Congress Committee treasurer and former party president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, died in November 2020. Faisal had aspired to contest from the Bharuch seat in Gujarat in last year's Lok Sabha elections but the Congress did not nominate him.
In her condolence message for Patel, who served as her political secretary for years and was the All India Congress Committee treasurer, party chief Sonia Gandhi said, 'In Shri Ahmed Patel, I have lost a colleague, whose entire life was dedicated to the Congress Party.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
Rahul is going about the restructuring of the Congress leadership in a gradual, deliberate fashion: No sudden jerks, no abrupt moves. So while seniors like Janardan Dwivedi were edged out, Ahmed Patel has been retained.
Ahmed Patel's third tenure in the Upper House ends in August this year. He has opted out of the election despite the Congress having enough votes from Gujarat to ensure his re-election to the Upper House. Naturally, his decision to not enter Parliament again has surprised many, and speculation is rife over the decision
Congress on Monday accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of dragging the name of Ahmed Patel into the campaign for the Gujarat assembly polls because he "wanted to play the communal card".
The Congress' rebuttal came after the Gujarat police on Friday opposed activist Teesta Setalvad's bail application.
Patel, 71, the quintessential backroom strategist for the Congress, died at a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Wednesday due to multiple organ failure more than a month after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi was never shown any government files, her political secretary Ahmed Patel said while terming as "baseless" the charges made against her in a book written by Prime Minister's former media advisor Sanjaya Baru.
Gujarat Assembly has issued notification for elections to three seats of Rajya Sabha, to be held on July 22. Elections were necessitated as terms of Patel and BJP MPs Surendra Patel and Pravin Nayak would end in August.
Patel's closeness to the Gandhi family was undeniable. But unlike others, he resisted the temptation to use it to leverage personal business, says Aditi Phadnis.
'A thief sees a thief in everyone,' he said in an apparent swipe at the prime minister.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, while reacting to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's comments about him, said that he was never a candidate for the top post in the state.
The Rajya Sabha election was personal so it had to be won and Amit Shah needed to be sent a message.
The Congress leader is one of the most powerful functionaries in the party, having the reputation of being a trouble-shooter and strategist.
Trashing the posters, Patel alleged that such acts show the 'utter desperation' of the BJP as it fears defeat.
He is starting to realise that an era is ending. And he is not ready to have a five-decade career besmirched by two alphabets -- AP -- that have cropped up in the AgustaWestland papers, says Aditi Phadnis.
Patel, who died on Wednesday at a Gurugram hospital where he was admitted with COVID-19, could have been the tell-all leader offering insights and information with his inside view of the workings of the Congress and the political world. But he would have none of it.
He was elected as a local body councillor in 1976 in Bharuch Municipal body of Gujarat at the age of 25 years and became the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi and remained a bridge during UPA-I tenure between the party and the government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Ahmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged Islamic State operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".
The 71-year-old remained Sonia Gandhi's most trusted lieutenant for most of her tenure as the longest serving Congress president, standing by her side through sun and shade.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's political advisor Ahmed Patel on Saturday categorically stated that he was never a contender for the post of the chief ministers of Gujarat nor he shall ever be one. He was responding to a comment made by Gujarat CM Narendra Modi while addressing a public meeting at Maninagar on Friday. Modi had dared to Congress to declare Patel as their chief ministerial candidate.
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
He served as an effective link between the party and government during the two terms of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) between 2004 and 2014. As political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he had access to leadership that no other leader in the party had and worked the channels to work out various issues.
He secured required 44 votes after votes of two Congress MLAs who cross-voted for BJP were rejected by EC.
With transfer of 23 police and administrative officials by the EC ahead of Thursday's Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suspected Congress and CPM hand behind their removal by the poll panel.
The EC maintained that use of none of the above in Rajya Sabha polls was not a new move as it was introduced in 2014 after the Supreme Court in 2013 made it mandatory to have the NOTA option in EVMs.
He made the attack on Jung while joining a protest by BJP MP Maheish Girri, who demanded an apology from CM Kejriwal for linking him to the murder of an NDMC official.
The ED had summoned Patel, 70, twice for questioning in the case but the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat later cited prevailing COVID-19 guidelines that advises senior citizens to stay indoors in order to remain safe from the pandemic.
'Gujarat poll results have boosted the morale of Congress workers, not only in Gujarat but all over India'
Patel said the I-T raids on the Congress minister shows the utter desperation and frustration of the BJP.
I will quit Rajya Sabha as well as public life if any allegation against me is proved in AgustaWestland controversy, said Congress leader Ahmed Patel.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met and voiced his support for Deepak Kumar, dubbed 'Mohammad Deepak', an Uttarakhand gym owner who bravely confronted Bajrang Dal activists harassing a Muslim shopkeeper, symbolising unity and courage.
Faisal Patel's tweet did not mention what kind of encouragement he was looking for, however, many believe it could be linked to his possible electoral debut.
