Ahmed Patel was a prominent senior Indian National Congress (INC) politician known for his behind-the-scenes political strategy and management skills. He was a Member of Parliament for eight terms – three terms in the Rajya Sabha and five terms in the Lok Sabha. His political legacy ended on November 25, 2020, as he died of multiple organ failure after a month-long battle with COVID-19.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Ahmed Patel was born on Sunday, 21 August 1949 (aged 71 at the time of death) in the village of Piraman, located in the Bharuch district of Gujarat. His full name was Ahmedbhai Mohammedbhai Patel. He completed his Bachelor of Science (BSc) from Bharuch’s Shree Jayendrapuri Puri Arts and Science College, South Gujarat University, Surat in 1976. Once, during his college life, he went with his father to the cooperative banking movement. It was after that that he joined the public service. He later joined the Indian Youth Congress. He rose from the grassroots and his skills, along with his commitment to the party, helped him become one of the leading politicians of the Indian National Congress (INC).
family and caste
Ahmed Patel was born in an agricultural family.
parents and siblings
Patel was born to Muhammad Ishikji Patel (father) and Hawaben Muhammadbhai (mother). He was the third child of his parents. His father, Muhammad Isakji, was one of the pioneers of the South Gujarat Cooperative Union Movement in the 1960s, which raised its voice against the exploitation of small borrowers by private financiers.
wife and children
He married Memuna Ahmed Patel in 1976. Memuna belonged to a family of freedom fighters who worked closely with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He had two children, Faisal Patel (son) and Mumtaz Patel (daughter). Both his children are far from politics. Faisal Patel, a Harvard graduate, is an entrepreneur, and no information is available about his daughter, Mumtaz Patel.
From left: Faisal Patel (son of Ahmed), Memuna Patel (wife of Ahmed), Shabana Azmi (actress) Ahmed Patel and Javed Akhtar (writer)
Ahmed Patel’s son Faisal Patel and daughter Mumtaz Patel
Political career
In 1976, at the age of 27, Ahmed Patel began his political career, successfully contesting local body elections from his village Piramani on an Indian National Congress ticket. Impressed by Patel’s performance, in 1977, after the Internal Emergency was lifted, the Indian National Congress (INC) fielded him from the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency ahead of the 1977 Lok Sabha elections. As a result, he won his first Lok Sabha election by defeating Janata Party’s Unya Sulman Esuf by a huge margin of over 63 thousand votes. He then retained the seat for two consecutive terms, winning the Lok Sabha elections in 1980 and 1984. In 1984, he became the first Parliamentary Secretary to the newly elected Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, along with Arun Singh and Oscar Fernandes.
Ahmed Patel, Arun Singh and Oscar Fernandes are sworn in as Parliamentary Secretaries to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1986, during the Rajiv Gandhi government, he was given the responsibility of heading the Gujarat unit of the INC, a position he held for the next two years. In 1995, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time and later went on to serve for four more terms. In 2001, she was appointed secretary to Indian National Congress (INC) president Sonia Gandhi, a position she held until 2017.
INC President Sonia Gandhi with Ahmed Patel
He was the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee from 2018 until his death in November 2020.
death
On Wednesday, November 25, 2020, Ahmed Patel died of multiple organ failure at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram, after he tested positive for COVID-19. Ahmed Patel’s remains were laid to rest near the grave of his parents in his ancestral village of Piraman.
INC leader Rahul Gandhi with Ahmed Patel’s son and daughter at last rites of Ahmed Patel
Net worth
His net worth at the time of his death was Rs. 5.3 million.
Facts/Trivia
- In his early days, Ahmed Patel was an avid sportsman. He also captained his college cricket and badminton teams.
- Apart from politics, he was mainly involved in philanthropic and philanthropic activities, especially in his native district of Bharuch. He also got Vandari village Sansad under Adarsh Gram Yojna.
- A three-time MP from Bharukh, Ahmed Patel was one of only two Muslim MPs elected from Gujarat to the Lok Sabha till date. The first was INC’s Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
- Ahmed Patel was known to be a low-key man who stayed away from controversy.
- He believed that there are only two pillars of modern society; Universal health care and quality education.
- He argued that society’s maturity can simply be explained by how it treats the elderly and disabled children.
- She strongly believed in empowering women. According to him, women were the backbone of this nation and if women are weak, the nation is weak.
- He believed in unity in diversity and considered it the main strength of the country.
- Ahmed always wanted the youth to get involved in politics and take it up as a serious profession, as he believed that only the youth could bring about a decisive change in the system of the country.
Categories: Politics
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
