Updated: November 26, 2020 4:03:50 am
Ahmed Patel with his colleagues in Congress Ghulam Nabi Azad and Meira Kumar. He was a deputy eight times. (Express file)
A five-minute walk from their ancestral home, a grave has been prepared in the tree-lined cemetery. On Wednesday, an ambulance from the HMP Foundation in Piraman departed for Vadodara airport to bring back the body of veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who arrived on a chartered flight from Delhi.
Patel had wished to be buried alongside his parents, Halimabibi and Mohammedbhai Patel.
Abbas Mullah, 71, remembers Patel as a “shy student,” who grew up to be a man of the people, for the people, “his man in Delhi.” He met Mullah every time he visited Piraman, chatted with the villagers late into the night and solved their problems, recalls Mullah.
What sets Piraman apart are its internal concrete and cement roads and a helipad on the outskirts. It has two water distillation plants, created with the efforts of Patel. All of Haren’s open public spaces have gardens “so people don’t litter,” says one villager, and credits Patel for the plan.
To deal with health emergencies, Patel had started an OPD medical center run by a trust called the HMP Foundation, named after his mother. The OPD center is on the main street leading to his manor house.
All the houses are made of concrete and the whole town is covered by closed-circuit television cameras. Most of its residents have settled in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa, says former Sarpanch MP Salim Patel.
Read also | Prime Minister Modi mourns the passing of Ahmed Patel: “ His role in strengthening Cong will always be remembered ”
“He (Patel) was a shy student; I was notorious. We sat together in the classroom, ”says Mullah. “Later he moved to another school in the (adjacent) city of Ankleshwar and I dropped out due to financial problems. The reason it is loved by millions of people is for its service to all sectors; for helping them solve their problems. He never expected anything from anyone for the work he did. “
File photo of Congress Speaker Sonia Gandhi speaking with party leader Ahmed Patel as they await the arrival of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (AP)
During those visits, Mullah says, Patel met with the villagers at their home at night; They approached him with issues such as the admission of children, jobs and medical treatment, and financial problems.
Sarpanch MP from Piraman village Imran Patel says: “We have made all the necessary arrangements for the burial (tomorrow)…. The body of our leader Ahmed Patel will arrive in our village on Thursday and will be taken directly to the cemetery. People have started to pray in their homes and in the mosques in the village of Piraman ”.
Wasim Shaikh, HMP Health Center Administrator, says: “The health center was started in 2011, thanks to the efforts of Ahmedbhai. Medicines, laboratory tests, and medical treatment are free to patients in Piraman and neighboring villages. Two MBBS doctors are stationed at the center…. About a hundred patients come here for treatment every day. “
Apart from this, basic computer courses and coaching for professional courses for young people are also organized for free, he adds.
At Vadodara airport, members of the Seva Dal Congress were present. Seva Dal is among the wings of Congress that were close to Patel’s heart; if he was in Gujarat, he used to participate in the symbolic Dandi march that Seva Dal led in commemoration of the original march led by Mahatma Gandhi.
Congressional leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to attend the funeral here on Thursday.
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