Sonia Gandhi's memoir contains error regarding Ahmed Patel's death year
The Congress leader's new book incorrectly states that her close aide died in 2022 instead of 2020.
Veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', released on Monday, contains a factual error regarding the passing of her aide Ahmed Patel. According to India Today, the book incorrectly cites 2022 as the year Patel died.
The 79-year-old leader wrote in the memoir that Patel served as her political secretary until he died of Covid-19 in 2022. However, Patel actually passed away on November 25, 2020, after testing positive for the virus on October 1 of that year.
Patel, who was 71 at the time of his death, had been placed in the intensive care unit at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on November 15, 2020. He was a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat and had previously advised former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
In the 502-page book, Gandhi describes Patel as a loyal colleague and a troubleshooter who acted as a coordinator between the Congress party and its allies. She noted that his death left a personal and political void within the party.
The memoir traces Gandhi's life from her childhood in Italy and her time in the UK to her political career in India. It also includes photographs of her family and her late husband, Rajiv Gandhi.