Gujarat: Bharuch battle hots up as Ahmed Patel’s children stake claim to legacy

When Ahmed Patel succumbed to COVID-19 infection in November 2020, there was no connection between the Congress members and Bharuch’s local workers, who used to be led by Patel, largely due to lack of communication and mismanagement.

When many disgruntled members of the Bharuch local unit left the Congress and joined BJP, Mumtaz Siddiqui, daughter of Ahmed Patel, returned from Delhi to stay in her hometown. Soon after her return, she switched back to her maiden name Mumtaz Patel, as she stepped up to take charge of the hospital and other institutions founded by her late father.

Helping hand in floods

In September 2023, Bharuch saw Mumtaz helping the local people on the ground after the devastating floods that ravaged the district. Through HMP Foundation, an institution set up by her father, she managed to send help to the flood-affected, and even to the villages in the interiors. This made the Congress popular among the locals.

Speaking to The Federal, Romel Sutariya, an activist and political analyst in south Gujarat, said, “Mumtaz did not stop at social work. In 2023, with just 12 months to go for the general elections, she became active in the politics of Bharuch district.”

Further, he said about her, “Mumtaz met politicians to take up the issues of the people of Bharuch. In August last year, she met Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, seeking a flyover on NH-48 that passes through the district and broadening of the road in front of Swami Vivekanand School at Ankleshwar. This was the first time she met with a member of the Narendra Modi government for an official purpose and it did not go unnoticed within the constituency.”

In her father's footsteps

Mumtaz herself has said about her foray into politics that she had a discussion with her father about her joining active politics way back in 2020.

“But he was not on board with the idea back then. He told me that politics is a dirty business. But I was adamant and asked him if I could take up his legacy. He had said he needed time to think,” recalled Mumtaz.

“I guess it has never been more important than now to remember and represent his political legacy,” Mumtaz pointed out even as she expressed disappointment with the Congress’s decision to give Bharuch constituency to AAP.

Faisal Patel stakes claim

Mumtaz is not Ahmed Patel's only child in the fray to represent Bharuch Lok Sabha seat and carry forward his political legacy. Patel’s son and Mumtaz’s younger brother Faisal has also claimed a stake to his father’s legacy.

A Harvard Business School alumnus, the 41-year-old Faisal is based in Delhi but keeps visiting Bharuch, the Patel family’s home turf. He founded the generic drug distribution company, Zion Distribution, in 2004, and co-founded big data analytics firm, Aria Analytics, recently.

Unlike his sister, Faisal is not part of the Congress currently. However, he has been involved with the Congress’s political campaigns. He campaigned for the Congress in the 2012 Gujarat Assembly polls and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections alongside his father.

Faisal's political moves

After Ahmed Patel’s demise, Mumtaz was quite open about her desire to join politics and even contest elections from Bharuch. But Faisal took to social media to declare that he would not join active politics. “Finally decided I will not be joining active politics,” he had tweeted.

Only a month later, Faisal’s photograph with AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal kicked off speculation of not only his chances of joining politics but also opting for other parties over Congress.

In March last year, Faisal tweeted his plan of touring Bharuch and Narmada districts of Gujarat from April 2023 with the aim to win seven assembly constituencies. However, he did not specify which party he would represent. His move eventually got deferred due to Ramzan.

Faisal stirred up another controversy just ahead of the Gujarat state polls in December 2022, when he once again took to social media and said, “I am tired of waiting…No encouragement from top brass. I am keeping my options open.”

Meeting with BJP

Faisal’s meeting with Gujarat BJP president CR Patil last year, however, fuelled speculation that he was interested in a political career in the BJP.

However, after the state polls, Faisal made it clear that it was the Congress that he was interested in joining. Though he entered active politics in Gujarat after Mumtaz, he had begun to participate in Congress public gatherings and meetings in the state by late 2023.

In one such Congress rally in January this year, a poster put up by him said: “Hu toh ladish” (I will fight). It took the Bharuch local unit by storm. Faisal was on the stage in the rally, flanked by the leaders of the Congress’s Dediapada unit. The stage backdrop had a banner with Congress’s party symbol with Faisal and the late Ahmed Patel’s photographs.

Emotional bond with Bharuch

“I will fight this parliamentary election from Bharuch, no matter what. I share an emotional bond with the constituency; it is my late father’s legacy,” said Faisal.

Meanwhile, despite the differences between the Patel siblings, their disgruntlement over the Bharuch seat going to AAP seems to have stirred up the Congress. The party has reportedly formed a committee to talk to its cadres and is expected to reach out to both Faisal and Mumtaz since both had expressed their desire to contest from the constituency.