Shivraj Patil

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Shivraj Vishwanath Patil Chakurkar (12 October 1935 – 12 December 2025) was an Indian politician. He was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. Patil was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 2010 to 2015.[1] Previously, he served in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi cabinets as Minister of Defence during the 1980s.

Patil resigned from the post of Home Minister on 30 November 2008, following widespread criticism raised after 2008 Mumbai attacks, and took moral responsibility for the security lapse that led to the attacks.[2]

Early life

Shivraj Vishwanath Patil Chakurkar was born on 12 October 1935 in the village of Chakur in the Latur district (Marathwada region) of the then princely state of Hyderabad, now Maharashtra, India. He attended Osmania University, Hyderabad, earning a degree in Science and studied law at Bombay University. During 1967–69, he was involved in local government (Latur Municipality). Keshavrao Sonawane and Manikrao Sonawane helped Shivaraj Patil to get his first break to stand from Latur Constituency.[3]

He belonged to the Panchamsali Lingayat community.[4] He married Vijaya Patil in June 1963, and had two children – a son and a daughter – with her.[5] He was also a devout follower of Sathya Sai Baba.

In state politics

From 1972 to 1980, he was legislator of Latur City of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for two terms of 1972 to 1978 and 1978 to 1980 during which time he held various positions such as Chairman of Public Undertakings Committee, Deputy Minister (Law & Judiciary, Irrigation, Protocol), Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and Speaker of the Assembly.

In central politics

In 1980, he was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha from Latur constituency. By 1999, he had won seven successive Lok Sabha elections in 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, he lost to Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rupatai Patil Nilangekar.

In government

File:Shri Shivraj Patil in his office after taking over the charge of the Union Minister of Home in New Delhi on May 24, 2004.jpg
Shivraj Patil in his office after taking over the charge of the Union Minister of Home in New Delhi on May 24, 2004. Seen beside him are political leaders from Maharashtra.

First inducted into the Indira Gandhi-led government as Minister of State for Defence (1980–82), he was given independent charge of the Commerce Ministry (1982–83), from where he was shifted to Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Electronics, Space and Ocean Development (1983–84). During 1983–86, he was vice-president of 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.

Patil also held a number of important positions in the party after Sonia Gandhi took over the presidency of the party. He is largely known for introducing the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, India in 1992. He was the chairman of the manifesto committee of the party during the 1999 Lok Sabha election.

As speaker of the Lok Sabha, he began or contributed to initiatives on information dissemination to members of the Parliament (through computerisation and modernisation), construction of the Parliament Library Building and the broadcast of Lok Sabha proceedings, including the live broadcast of Question Hour of both houses of the parliament.

Between 1991 and 1995, he was a member/leader of Indian parliamentary delegations to various international parliamentary conferences.

He became Home Minister in 2004. A former Lok Sabha speaker, Shivraj Patil lost in the 2004 polls from Latur in Maharashtra, but still landed the second most important position in the Union Cabinet—that of the Home Minister. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in July 2004. It is also said if not for losing the election he would have been the Prime Minister, and the reason he lost the election was because his opponent got the sympathy vote for losing a family member who was a mass leader. His tenure as home minister was marred by one debacle after another and he faced increasing calls for his resignation, eventually forcing it due to the mishandling in the events leading up to and after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Not to be forgotten also are the 2006 Malegaon bombings, at a Muslim graveyard.[6]

United States Ambassador David Mulford in an embassy cable described his removal after the Mumbai terrorist attack as inevitable and called him "inept" and "asleep on the watch".[7][8][9][10][11]

Patil was accused of not sending the Central Reserve Police Force to Nandigram, even after repeated requests by the West Bengal government, to restore law and order in the area and the events resulted in police firing upon and killing men and women in Nandigram.

Patil's name was considered a likely candidate in the 2007 presidential election. However, after the Left opposed his candidacy, Sonia Gandhi proposed Pratibha Patil, Governor of Rajasthan, as the presidential candidate. Shivraj Patil was later considered a possible candidate for the post of Vice-President of India.

On 30 November 2008, just four days after the Bombay blasts, Patil resigned from his position of Home Minister in Union Cabinet taking moral responsibility for the security lapse that led to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

After 26/11, Shivraj Patil was made the Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator from 2010[12] to 2015.[13]

Controversies

Shivraj Patil was subject to media commentary during a period of national crisis following a terror attack. At a time when the country was coping with grief and uncertainty, certain sections of the media highlighted his changes of attire during public appearances. This coverage shaped public discourse and was interpreted by some commentators as symbolic, even though the focus arguably shifted away from the broader challenges of governance and crisis response.[14][15][16] He is also criticized for having omitted this episode from his autobiography.[17]

Death

Patil died in Latur, Maharashtra, India on 12 December 2025, at the age of 90.[18][19]

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Shivraj Patil resigns. Sify.com (30 November 2008). Retrieved on 29 December 2011.
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Who is Shivraj Patil? Template:Webarchive. NDTV.com. Retrieved on 29 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. interstatecouncil.nic.in
  6. ↑ Blasts kill 37 in India graveyard
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Minister of Defence
15 January 1980 – 2 December 1989 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Speaker of Lok Sabha
1991–1996 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Home Minister of India
2004–2008 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Governor of Punjab & Administrator of Chandigarh
January 2010 – January 2015 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

Template:Home Ministry (India) Template:Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) Template:PunjabGovernors Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Governors of Rajasthan Template:Authority control Template:Sister project

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