Ahmed Patel: Sonia Gandhi's most trusted advisor, top Congress troubleshooter

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, one of Sonia Gandhi's closest political advisors and a top party leader-shooter, has died at 71. His health worsened after COVID's infection. A staunch Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist, Ahmed Patel worked for years as the political secretary to Sonia Gandhi and was one of the most influential leaders in the Congress. Still, he never joined the government, preferring to keep a low profile.

He represented Gujarat eight times in Parliament - three times as a Lok Sabha member and five times from Rajya Sabha.

A bitter contest followed his election to the Rajya Sabha for the fifth time in 2017. Ahmed Patel was challenged by a former ally of the party, who moved to the BJP before the elections, making it the first Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat in decades to witness a contest instead of candidates being elected unopposed for decades.

The son of a social worker, Ahmed Patel, was born in Bharuch, Gujarat, which he represented in the Lok Sabha. He joined the Youth Congress and became its state president.

He was just 28 when Indira Gandhi elected him to contest elections from Bharuch in 1977. He also won in 1980 and 1984 but lost to BJP after it gaining prominence in 1990.

A quiet operator, Ahmed Patel, was among the prime movers in the Congress-led coalition that came to power in 2004 and 2009.