Congress Leader and Former Home Minister Shivraj Patil Dies at 90

Congress leader and former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil passed away at his residence in Latur on Friday morning. He was 90. Patil, who had been unwell for the past few days, breathed his last at home.

Born on October 12, 1935, in Chakur village in Maharashtra’s Latur district, Patil was a towering figure in Indian politics, with a public life spanning more than four decades. A senior leader of the Indian National Congress, he served as the 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha and held several key roles in Parliament, the Union government and state legislatures.

Patil entered national politics in 1980 after being elected to the 7th Lok Sabha and went on to win the constituency seven times in a row, serving in the lower house until 2004. Through the 1980s and 1990s, he served on multiple parliamentary committees, chairing the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of MPs.

He held a wide array of ministerial portfolios as Minister of State, including Defence, Commerce, Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Electronics, Space and Ocean Development, Biotechnology, Personnel, Administrative Reforms, Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Patil served as Union Home Minister from 2004 to 2008. He resigned on November 30, 2008, in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, accepting moral responsibility for security lapses.

From 2010 to 2015, he served as the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, extending his contributions to governance beyond Parliament. He is also credited with instituting the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.

Before rising to national prominence, Patil was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1979, holding posts such as Chairman of the Public Undertakings Committee, Deputy Minister for Law and Judiciary, Irrigation and Protocol, and later Deputy Speaker and Speaker of the Assembly.