India's Congress leader Ahmed Patel passes away at 71

He was the second veteran from the opposition group to fall victim to the virus in recent days, as total cases in India touched the 9.2-million mark.

Congress Party stalwart Ahmed Patel, a lawmaker who was party treasurer and was seen as close to the Gandhi family that leads the party, was detected with COVID-19 a month ago and died of multi-organ failure.

“I have lost an irreplaceable comrade, a faithful colleague and a friend,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a statement.

Earlier this week, another Congress veteran, Tarun Gogoi, died of health complications after contracting the virus in the eastern state of Assam, where he was chief minister for 15 years.

Patel died in Gurugram Hospital.

His son Faisal Patel tweeted ,”With profound grief I regret to announce that sad and untimely demise of my father on 25/11 at 3.30am.”

More than a month after testing positive for a COVID-19 infection, Patel was under treatment at a Gurugram-based hospital. He was being monitored by a team of doctors.

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram tweeted, “Deeply shocked and saddened to learn that my dear friend Ahmed Patel passed away in the early hours of today...For two decades, he was one of the staunchest pillars of the Congress party and a trusted counsellor. He will be profoundly missed...I offer my tribute to his memory and convey my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved family.”