[1] Patel was elected in 1991 to the National Assembly of Zambia under the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in the Lusaka Central constituency.
[1] He was one of two cabinet-level members of Indian origin in President Frederick Chiluba's government, the other being Minister of Agriculture Suresh Desai.
[2] However, he resigned from that last position in February 1996 due to disagreements with Chiluba; specifically, he objected to a proposed constitutional amendment which would bar individuals of "foreign parentage" from contesting the presidency.
[6] During his tenure under Mwanawasa, Patel served as Chair-Co-ordinator for the Least Developed Countries World Trade Organization negotiations in 2005.
[1] Patel later changed his opinion of Mwanawasa, and after the latter's death praised him for his independence, stating that "Everyone thought he was going to be Chiluba’s puppet, but he showed very quickly that he took orders from no one".