It was December 13, 2001. Terrorists had struck the Parliament. Several MPs and ministers were then inside. So were journalists. It was a rare occasion to talk to the leaders under the shadow of the audacious attack. Shivraj Patil, having known since long, while covering Parliament, approached us in the lobby of Parliament.

Patil had a point to make. “See, everyone who is involved in the attack will be identified and dealt with. This will be made possible by the CCTV camera system installed in the complex when I was the speaker”.

It was not given to Patil to blow his own trumpet, but he was deeply hurt by the opposition's campaign when the system was installed, alleging that it was to keep surveillance on them. It was an opposition act that had left a scar on Patil, a soft-spoken liberal to the T and at the same time firm on his beliefs.

P.V. Narasimha Rao, who knew him well from his Maharashtra days, had made him the speaker of the Lok Sabha. Perhaps Patil could be the only presiding officer who had been the speaker of an assembly.

During the Janata party days, Patil was the speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. When the announcement of Jaya Prakash Narayan’s death was made in the parliament by then PM Morarji Desai, Patil came under pressure in the assembly to adjourn the House for the day immediately.

Patil did not budge. He ordered verification of the news. A police officer from the nearest thana to the Jaslok Hospital was dispatched, who reported that JP was very much alive.  A guffaw like that in parliament was averted.

The episode highlights the personality of Patil, a lawyer by profession from the backward Marathwada region of the state. He was much more suave, well-mannered, and sophisticated than the typical Congress leader. That was an asset for him as well as a liability.

Indira Gandhi spotted the young leader from Maharashtra and made him minister of defence production under her. While virtually running the ministry, he used to have doubts on what decision to be taken on a particular matter. He had requested the prime minister to allow him to meet her whenever needed so that the key ministry is run smoothly.

Later, he used to say with awe of his leader, "Whenever I used to go to meet the PM. She knew for what purpose I had come. How about if we go on with the issue in this manner? She used to say it without me uttering a word. And I used to get the answer.”

Initially, when he told the prime minister that he was too junior to handle such a sensitive ministry. Gandhi gave him a pep talk suggesting that he go ahead, as any mistakes that were bonafide ones will be accepted.

Patil handled several key ministries under her as well as Rajiv Gandhi.

Indira Gandhi wanted to make him the chief minister of Maharashtra after A.R. Antulay, but he declined, and rightly so. A Lingayat, Patil knew his limitations, as he was unaccustomed to handling the rough and tumble of the Maratha-dominated politics of the state amid constant pulls and pressures.

After the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power, Patil saw himself defeated in his pocket borough of Latur, which he had represented for seven terms. But fierce loyalty to the Congress high command and especially Sonia Gandhi saw him in good stead. He was made the home minister, a portfolio being silently sought by leaders like Pranab Mukherjee.

As home minister, Patil remained under attack from within and without. Several lobbies inside the Congress as well as outside saw him as a stumbling block to their plans and schemes. These sections had been stunned by Sonia Gandhi’s choice.

Sonia Gandhi also sought to make him the President of India, but the efforts were aborted by Patil’s detractors in the Congress and UPA allies, who sold the Left leaders the theory that he was in a way a lackey of the BJP. Pratibha Patil, whom Patil as the home minister had appointed as the Rajasthan Governor, became the beneficiary.

It was a journey downhill and into a virtual obscurity soon after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai that saw his departure from not only the Home Ministry but the government too. Later, Patil was made Punjab Governor, but it was a demotion of an ultra-loyalist, whose strength of being close to the Gandhi family was ignored. Dynasties and families sometimes forget who are close to them, and it also starts their journey downhill.

The 90-year-old Patil walked into the sunset, uncared for, ignored, and neglected by those whom he held in high esteem. He passed away on December 12. A spiritually bent man, Patil often used to hear the discourses of Osho to draw solace from the fact that nothing is permanent.

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