Ahmed Patel laid to rest in Bharuch; Rahul Gandhi attends funeral

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was laid to rest at his native village Piraman in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Thursday.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of the party's key strategist and troubleshooter, who died on Wednesday. Patel's mortal remains reached Piraman from Vadodara and he was laid to rest at a Muslim cemetery in the presence of hundreds of locals and Congress leaders.

The mortal remains reached Vadodara airport Wednesday night and were kept at the Sardar Patel Hospital at Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

After landing at Surat airport on Thursday morning, Gandhi reached Piraman by road and met the grieving family members of the former Congress MP at their ancestral home. When Gandhi reached there, hundreds of locals and Congress workers were present to pay tributes to Patel. Paying his last respects, Rahul Gandhi threw some soil on Patel's mortal remains.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi sent flowers to pay her last respects to the former colleague. Patel was laid to rest after the final 'namaz' was offered. As per Patel's wishes, he was buried next to the graves of his parents. Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, Congress in- charge for Gujarat Rajeev Satav, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Shankersinh Vaghela were among those who attended the funeral.

Patel (71) died in a Gurugram hospital on Wednesday following complications related to COVID- 19.