185. Ahmed Patel

 

political secretary to Congress President and Leader Sonia Gandhi
  

Name	Shri Ahmed Patel
Father's Name	Late Mohammed Ishakji Patel
Mother's Name	Late Shrimati Hawaben Mohammedbhai Patel
Date of Birth	21/08/1949
Birth Place	Ankleshwar, Distt. Bharuch (Gujarat)

His accomplishment in his Political career is the fact that he is only the second Muslim after Ehsan Jafri to be elected in Gujarat as an Lok Sabha MP. He is one of the few politicians who were spotted by Sanjay Gandhi but continued to wield their clout with Indira, Rajiv and now Sonia. It is rumoured that he was offered ministership by both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but he turned it down owing the fact that he remains to be low profile and away from dirty politics usually aligned with the Minister post.

Party Name

Indian National Congress

Educational Qualifications	B.Sc. Educated at Shree Jayendra Puri Arts and Science College, Bharuch (South Gujarat University) and M.S. University, Baroda
Profession	Agriculturist
Positions Held	March 1977-Aug. 1979 Member, Sixth Lok Sabha 1977-82 President, Gujarat Pradesh Youth Congress Committee 1980-84 Member, Seventh Lok Sabha Sept. 1983 - Dec. 1984 Joint Secretary, All India Congress Committee Dec. 1984-1989 Member, Eighth Lok Sabha Jan. - Sept. 1985 Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Sept. 1985 - Jan. 1986 General Secretary, All India Congress Committee Jan. 1986 - Oct. 1988 President, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee April 1992 onwards Member, Congress Working Committee May 1992 - Oct. 1996 General Secretary, All India Congress Committee Aug. 1993 Elected to Rajya Sabha Oct. 1996 - 6 July 2000 Treasurer, All India Congress Committee Aug. 1999 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha Dec. 1999-Feb. 2004 Member, Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals Jan. 2000 - Feb. 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation Aug. 2004-May 2009 and Aug. 2009 onwards Member, Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas Oct. 2004-2005 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Human Resource Development Aug. 2005 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha Jan. 2006 onwards Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Wakf
Freedom Fighter	No
Books Published
Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests	Travelling, cooperative and social activities and sports (mainly cricket & badminton)
Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation	Reading, music, cultural programmes and gardening
Countries Visited	Hungary, France, Austria, West Germany, U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Iraq, Thailand, Egypt and Switzerland
Other Information	Managing Trustee, Gujarat Rahat Samiti; Chairman, Sanskritik Vikas Mandal, Ankleshwar, District Bharuch; Director, (i) Indian Airlines, July 1992 - May 1993 and (ii) Bharuch District Cooperative Bank since September 1977 Source : india.gov.in