Newsmaker | Suspended Cong RS MP Rajani Patil better known in Delhi than home state Maharashtra

Considered an aide of the Gandhi family, she managed the party's Himachal unit before taking charge of J&K, was picked ahead of other senior leaders for RS seat

Congress MP Rajani Patil (File)

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Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Rajani Patil is known as a trusted aide of the Gandhi family and known to be close to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but her involvement in the politics of her home state Maharashtra is negligible.

She was suspended from the Rajya Sabha in February for reportedly shooting a video of the ongoing ruckus in the House and for distributing the clip. Patil has termed the allegations misleading, and said she was not even given a chance to present her side. Her suspension was revoked six months later, on August 7.

कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge,संगठन महासचिव श्री @kcvenugopalmp,जम्मू-कश्मीर प्रदेश प्रभारी श्रीमती @rajanipatil_in और प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @vikar_rasool की उपस्थिति में जम्मू-कश्मीर के कुछ महत्वपूर्ण लोगों ने भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस की सदस्यता ग्रहण कीpic.twitter.com/NEf1WHcUCu

— Vinay Kumar Dokania (@VinayDokania) August 7, 2023

Born in western Maharashtra’s Sangli district in 1958, she shifted to Beed in Marathwada after she married former Maharashtra minister of state Ashok Patil. Daughter of freedom fighter Atmaram Patil, she was also known as a foster daughter of former Maharashtra CM, late Vasantdada Patil.

She started her political career with the NSUI in 1978 and worked at the national level of the Congress’s student organisation as well. In 1991, Patil was elected to the Beed zilla parishad and worked for five years. In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, she sought a ticket from the party but was denied. Miffed, she joined the BJP and contested from Beed, and won. She however did not last long in the BJP and returned to the Congress in 1998.

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Since then, Patil has served on a number of government bodies as well as party posts. She was the president of the Maharashtra Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, director of the Maharashtra state co-operative bank, central social work board, etc.

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In 2012, after the death of former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh, the party nominated her to a vacant post Rajya Sabha seat, and she was elected unopposed. She went on to win the award for the best parliamentarian in 2013. Her tenure ended in April 2018.

Also Read | Congress MP Rajani Patil suspended from Rajya Sabha for filming proceedings

In 2021, when Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Satav died from Covid-19 and his seat fell vacant, a number of Congress leaders, including Mukul Wasnik and Prithviraj Chavan, were considered for the seat, but eventually, Patil was given preference, and she was back in Parliament.

Patil’s name was believed to be among the 12 people the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had sent to outgoing Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for appointment to the Maharashtra Legislative Council. As Koshyari sat on the list, Patil was sent to the Rajya Sabha, and the list altered.

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She was soon made the party’s in-charge of Himachal Pradesh. Currently, she is the Congress in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir.