Pratibha Patil, who on Wednesday created history by becoming the country’s first woman President, has seen the rough and tumble of politics including an unusually bitter campaign on her way to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Set to break the male bastion in the presidential palace, the lawyer-turned-politician brings with her a wealth of experience as a politician and an administrator.

The 72-year-old Congress loyalist held several posts in Maharashtra besides being Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha and Governor of Rajasthan but her role in the cooperative movement in her home state was at the centre of a controversy. Nearly eight years after her tenure as a Lok Sabha member ended in 1996, Patil,had gone into virtual political wilderness before she was brought in as Rajasthan’s Governor in November 2004. Born on December 19, 1934 in Jalgaon, Patil practised there as a lawyer before joining politics.