Ahmed Patel's son Faisal says he is ready to contest elections if Congress high command asks

Faisal Patel, the son of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, has said he is ready to join politics and will contest assembly polls if the party wishes. Only last month he had announced on Twitter that he would not join politics and rather focus on his late father’s social initiatives. “Just like my father, I will continue doing social work. We have two hospitals and a public school in Bharuch. That is my real work,” he told reporters on Thursday night. “I will enter electoral politics if the (Congress) party high command asks,” 40-year-old Faisal Patel said. “If the high command wishes, I will also fight elections. Preferably from Bharuch, because that is my area,” said Patel when asked if he would contest the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls. He was in Khadia area of the city to canvas for Congress candidates ahead of elections to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Elections to Ahmedabad and five other municipal corporations will be held on 21 February. He was invited by local Congress MLAs Gyasuddin Shaikh and Imran Khedawala to support party candidates, Patel said. Ahmed Patel, a Congress veteran who hailed from Bharuch, died on 25 November last year due to COVID-19-related complications. Faisal, an alumnus of Harvard Business School, had announced on 30 January that he will not join politics. “Finally decided – I will not be joining active politics. I will continue to work on my existing social initiatives in healthcare, education and technology. Late Ahmed Patel ji’s true legacy was working for the downtrodden and underprivileged. I pledge to continue doing so,” he had tweeted.