Veteran Congress leader Shivraj Patil
Credit: PTI Photo
Shivraj V Patil, former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader, passed in Latur, Maharashtra, following brief illness on Friday. He was 90.
He held several important positions during his long political career, including Speaker of the Lok Sabha and various key portfolios in the Union Cabinet. Patil won the Latur Lok Sabha seat several times.
Shivraj Patil's political career
Patil was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Maharashtra's Latur in 1972 and was re-elected in 1978. He held important positions during this time, including the Chairman of Public Undertakings Committee, Deputy Minister (Law & Judiciary, Irrigation, Protocol), Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and Speaker of the Assembly.
He entered national politics in 1980 after he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Latur constituency. In the Indira Gandhi government, Patil served as the Minister of State for Defence from 1980-82.
By 1999, he had won seven successive Lok Sabha elections — 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999.
26/11 attack and Patil's resignation
In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, he was defeated, but was still given the post of Union Home Minister. The tenure is remembered for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and his subsequent resignation on November 30, 2008, taking moral responsibility for the security lapse.
Prior to serving as the Home Minister, Patil served in several key position of the Union Cabinet.
He was given independent charge of the Commerce Ministry (1982–83), before being moved to Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Electronics, Space and Ocean Development (1983–84).
During 1983–86, he served as vice-president of the CSIR India. He also served on various committees, including those on Defence, External Affairs, Finance, Salaries and Allowances of members of Parliament.
In the Rajiv Gandhi government, he was Minister for Personnel, Defence Production and later held independent charge of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
He was the Speaker of Lok Sabha from 1991-1996. As a Speaker, he had introduced initiatives on information dissemination to members of the Parliament, construction of Parliament Library Building and broadcast of Lok Sabha proceedings, including live broadcast of Question Hour of both houses of Parliament.
After the 26/11 attacks, Patil was appointed as the Governor of Punjab and Chandigarh administrator in 2010 and 2015.