Shivraj Patil: Cong leader who faced flak during 26/11 for changing attire

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. Such was then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi's confidence in him that despite his defeat from Latur, Patil was made a Rajya Sabha member and given the crucial home portfolio when the party-led UPA government assumed office in 2004.  Patil served as Governor of Punjab and administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh from 2010-2015. He was given additional charge as Governor of Rajasthan and when the BJP-led NDA government came to power in 2014, Patil continued in his gubernatorial post till the end of his tenure.  The Congress veteran held the rare distinction of serving as Speaker of the Maharashtra assembly and also the Lok Sabha. Besides him, two political stalwarts from Maharashtra -- G V Mavalankar and Manohar Joshi -- served as the Lok Sabha speaker.  Mavalankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, while Joshi was the Maharashtra CM from 1995 to 1999 and later went on to serve as the presiding office of the Lower House of Parliament.  Born in Latur district, Patil 's political journey began in the late 1960s as president of the Latur municipality. He was elected to the Maharashtra assembly two times and served as multiple tenures as Member of Parliament. Post-2015, he largely lived away from public glare, dividing his his time in Delhi and hometown Latur.  In October 2022, speaking during a book launch in Delhi, the former Union minister courted controversy by claiming that the concept of 'Jihad' was present not just in Islam, but also in the Bhagavad Gita and Christianity.  Patil, along with his family members, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier this year.