Ahmed Patel laid to rest; Rahul Gandhi attends funeral

BHHARUCH: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was laid to rest at his native village Piraman in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Thursday.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of the party's key strategist and troubleshooter, who died on Wednesday.

Patel's mortal remains reached Piraman from Vadodara and he was laid to rest at a Muslim cemetery in the presence of hundreds of locals and Congress leaders.

The mortal remains reached Vadodara airport Wednesday night and were kept at the Sardar Patel Hospital at Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

After landing at Surat airport on Thursday morning, Gandhi reached Piraman by road and consoled the grieving family of the former Congress MP.

As per Patel's wishes, he was buried next to the graves of his parents.

Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, AICC in-charge of Gujarat Rajeev Satav, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Shankersinh Vaghela were among those who attended the funeral.