Mumbai, Dec. 12 -- Congress veteran and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil donned many hats during his decades-long political career and was a prominent figure in Maharashtra and national politics, but had to resign as Union Home Minister after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Patil (90), who passed away on Friday at his residence in Latur district of Maharashtra after a brief illness, remained a Congress and Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist till his last days and held several key constitutional and ministerial posts during a public life spanning more than five decades.
The veteran politician faced severe public and media backlash as Union Home minister in 2008 when he was seen in three different sets of clothes on the night of November 26 when Mumbai was facing unprecedented attacks from ten heavily-armed Pakistan-trained terrorists.
Defending himself over the criticism, he had said people should criticise policy, not clothes. The sheer scale of the Mumbai attacks weighed heavily on Patil's political career and made his position in the Union Cabinet virtually untenable, leading to his resignation on November 30, 2008.
As the Lok Sabha Speaker from 1991 to 1996, he introduced several Parliamentary initiatives and always emphasised on procedural discipline and decorum in the Lower House. He was described as a dignified and impartial presiding officer and widely respected for his deep understanding of legislative procedures and exceptional grasp of constitutional matters.
A seven-time Lok Sabha MP from Latur in central Maharashtra, Patil suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Rupa Nilangekar, daughter-in-law of Congress stalwart and former CM Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar, who contested as the BJP nominee in the 2004 Parliamentary polls.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.