A permanent void

With Ahmed Patel’s death, there is confusion in the Congress ranks on where to go with grievances

- SONI MISHRA

THE SHOCK THAT Ahmed Patel’s demise has evoked in the Congress is a testimony to his stature in the party. A recurring theme in the tributes was the sentiment that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replace Patel, and that the crisis-ridden party needed him most at this juncture.

The significance that Patel succeeded in endowing the post of political secretary to the Congress president with was best expressed in an evocative homage penned by Sonia Gandhi, where she described him as her most trusted colleague, who she could depend on without any questions being asked.

The Gandhis will miss Patel when it comes to reaching out to the dissenting voices. After all, Patel was a friend of many of the 23 writers of the ‘letter of dissent’, and acted as a bridge between them and the party leadership. He had the authority and the political resourcefulness to deal with such situations.

There is a vacuum in terms of whom the leaders should approach to have their grievances heard. At the moment, it is felt that there is no one in the party with the same level of authority.

Said senior leader Digvijaya Singh, “At a personal level, I have lost a friend and a colleague who I trusted, and in whose political analysis and decisions I had deep faith. The Congress has lost its most trusted and committed leader at a time when it needed a person like him the most.”