Senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil died on Friday in Latur at the age of 90. Patil breathed his last around 6:30 am at his home in Latur, where he was kept under home observation due to prolonged illness. During his long political career, Shivraj Patil has held many important positions, including that of Lok Sabha Speaker and several important positions in the Union Cabinet. Patil won the Latur Lok Sabha seat seven times.
There is an atmosphere of mourning in entire Maharashtra and national politics due to his death, because Patil was known as a calm, composed and very hard-working leader in Indian politics. Shivraj Patil was born on October 12, 1935 in Chakur in Latur district. After completing his studies, he first practiced Ayurveda and then studied law from Mumbai University. His political journey began in 1967 when he took charge of Latur Municipality. This beginning later became the foundation of his long political career.
How was his political journey?
In 1980, he became MP for the first time from Latur Lok Sabha seat, and later won from the same seat for seven consecutive terms. This success made him one of the most influential leaders of Maharashtra. In the governments of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, he held the position of Minister of State for key departments such as Defence, Commerce, Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Electronics and Space.
Shivraj Patil was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. During his tenure, he accelerated the modernization of the Lok Sabha, computerization, live broadcasting of proceedings and construction of a new library building. This time is considered an important time of technological and administrative changes in the Indian Parliament. Despite losing the 2004 elections, he was made the Home Minister at the Centre. However, after the 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, he resigned taking moral responsibility. He was later made the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, where he served from 2010 to 2015.