‘Pillar of Congress party’: Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condole Ahmed Patel’s death

The 71-year-old senior party leader breathed his last in the early hours of Wednesday due to post Covid-19 complications. Patel had on October 1 announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday condoled the demise of senior party leader Ahmed Patel, who passed away in the early hours of the day due to Covid-19 complications at the age of 71.

Congress MP Ahmed Patel (File Photo/HT) (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

“It is a sad day. Shri Ahmed Patel was a pillar of the Congress party. He lived and breathed Congress and stood with the party through its most difficult times. He was a tremendous asset. We will miss him. My love and condolences to Faisal, Mumtaz & the family,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Patel, a current Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat who in his eighth term as a parliamentarian, had on October 1 tweeted to announce he had tested positive for Covid-19. Considered a key aide of interim party president Sonia Gandhi, he was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital on November 15 for further treatment.

Patel’s son Faisal announced the news of his father’s death on Twitter. “With profound grief and sorrow, I regret to announce the sad and untimely demise of my father, Mr. Ahmed Patel at 25/11/2020 at 3:30am. After testing positive for Covid-19 around a month back, his health worsened further due to multiple organ failures. I request all well-wishers to adhere to Covid-19 law and order regulations by avoiding any mass gatherings and to also maintain social distancing norms at all times,” Faisal Patel tweeted.

Another senior Congress leader, former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, had passed away on Monday. In August, Gogoi, too, had tested positive for Covid-19. He was rushed to hospital earlier this month after complaining of breathlessness and breathed his last there.