NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s ‘blue-eyed boy’ R R Patil with grassroots appeal
His oratorial skills in Marathi, packaged with the rural tone and context often marked him apart from other leaders.
NCP leaders Praful Patel, Supriya Sule and others pay homage to party leader RR Patil at party office, who died at Lilavati hospital in Mumbai on Monday. (Source: PTI Photo)
Former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and senior NCP leader, R R Patil, died on Monday of multi-organ failure after having battled oral cancer for three months. He was 58.
Patil had been undergoing chemotherapy sessions for over two months at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital. His condition deteriorated over the past two days and was on ventilator support since Saturday.
One of the longest serving home ministers of the state, Patil’s political career spanned over 25 years marked by both achievements and controversies.
[related-post]
He was born in a marginal farmer’s family in western Maharashtra’s Sangli district. After completing his graduation and law studies, he took the plunge into politics. He was part of Generation Next groomed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. In 1990, he contested Assembly elections for the first time and won. In 1999, as rural development minister he built an identity as a mass leader in rural Maharashtra.
Through the “Sant Gadge Baba Gram Swachata Abhiyan” — village cleanliness drive — he reached out to every household in rural Maharashtra. The “Tanta Mukti Gram Yojana” , dispute free villages, was another campaign that he successfully implemented. He went on to become state NCP president and also the chief whip of the party in the Assembly.
Patil was elevated as deputy CM and home minister in 2004. However, in 2008, he had to resign after his controversial remarks on the 26 /11 Mumbai terror attacks. His remark “bade bade shaharon mein, chhote chhote ghatna hoti raheti hain” (in big cities, small incidents happen), had created an uproar, forcing him to quit. However, he returned as home minister in 2009 and continued till the end of Congress-NCP government in 2014.
In 2005-06, much against the wishes of his party colleagues, Patil went ahead with the decision to ban the dance bars across the state. And despite a legal battle, he stuck to his decision till the end.
He stood out from the rest of his party leaders because of his humble background — many of his party colleagues from western Maharashtra belt belong to political dynasties that control the sugar mills. He once said, “The first time I wore a suit and boot was when I went to London to attend a conference as home minister.” His family continues to live in his native village. His children — daughters Smita, Supriya and son Rohit — studied in a zilla parishad school while his wife Suman chose to stay at home to take care of the family.
His oratorial skills in Marathi, packaged with the rural tone and context often marked him apart from other leaders. Not surprisingly, Patil got the tag of “blue eyed boy” of Sharad Pawar.
On Monday, after coming to know of his demise, leaders from all political parties rushed to Lilavati Hospital to pay their respects to him. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the final rites will be conducted with full state honours in his native village in Sangli. “It is a sad moment for Maharashtra. He worked for the benefit of common man,” said the CM. The state government has declared one day of state mourning on Tuesday.
Hundreds of NCP workers paid their respects to the party’s “aam aadmi leader”. The entire NCP rank and file, including Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jitendra Awhad, Madhukarrao Pichad and former state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare, were present at the office. Party sources said that Sharad Pawar was in Delhi on Monday morning and will attend the funeral on Tuesday.
Share
