Ahmad Patel was the right hand man of Sonia Gandhi, used to be powerful despite being a minister, he used to do all the work from behind the scenes.

Ahmed Patel, the right-hand man of Sonia Gandhi, died early Wednesday. Patel also served as political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. On the death of Ahmed Patel, Sonia Gandhi said, “I have lost a colleague, whose whole life was devoted to the Congress.” I have lost a loyal colleague and a friend. Condolences to his bereaved family. My sympathies are with him. It was said about Ahmed Patel that he was so powerful that despite being a minister, he was more important than a minister. He often preferred to work behind the scenes.

Ahmed Patel won the Lok Sabha elections from Bharuch in 1977 at the age of 26 and became the youngest Member of Parliament. He was elected as a three-time Lok Sabha MP from 1977 to 1989. He has been a member of the Rajya Sabha continuously since 1993. Ahmed Patel served as the chairman of the Youth Congress Committee of Gujarat from 1977 to 1982.

In September 1983, he was elected joint secretary of the All India Congress Committee. From January to September in 1985, he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Ahmed Patel served as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee from September 1985 to January 1986. In January 1986, he was given the responsibility of Gujarat Congress State President.

When Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister in 1991, Ahmed Patel was made a member of the Congress Working Committee. In 1996, he was given the important responsibility of treasurer of the All India Congress Committee. He relinquished this post in 2000 after Sonia Gandhi’s estrangement with private secretary V George.

Later in 2001, he became a political advisor to Sonia Gandhi. Patel is said to have played the role of chief strategist in winning the UPA in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Ahmed Patel was instrumental in many important decisions of the Manmohan Singh government.