Sonia Gandhi got the death year of her close adviser Ahmed Patel wrong in her new memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey Of Love'. While Patel died on November 25, 2020, the book says he fell victim to the epidemic in 2022. Many readers noticed this error regarding her faithful colleague.
New Delhi:
Sonia Gandhi, writing in her memoir 'Belonging: A Journey Of Love', got the death year of her closest political advisers, Ahmed Patel, wrong.
In 2020, mourning the death of Ahmed Patel, who was believed to be part of every key decision she made, Gandhi wrote she lost an "irreplaceable comrade, faithful colleague and friend".
In 2026, in her memoir, Gandhi writes "he remained my political secretary till sadly he fell victim to the Covid epidemic in 2022, leaving a vacuum in the party and an absence I felt personally."
Ahmed Patel, also the treasurer of the Congress, had tested positive for the Covid-19 on October 1, 2020 and had been admitted to the ICU of Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon on November 15. He died 10 days later, on November 25. However, the book wrongly mentions the death year as 2022.
READ | "Irreplaceable Comrade": Sonia Gandhi Mourns "Friend" Ahmed Patel
Ambika Soni, Madhavrao Scindia, joined by Ahmed Patel were part of a group Sonia Gandhi consulted on political matters during the early years of her political life.
Ahmed Patel, "AP" as he was called in the party, was the Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and had also advised former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. As a Youth Congress leader, he was chosen at 28 by Indira Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from Bharuch in Gujarat.