Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934), also known asPratibha Patil Shekhawat,[1][2] is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as thepresident of India from 2007 to 2012. She was thefirst woman to become the president of India. A member of theIndian National Congress, she also served as theGovernor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007, and was a member of theLok Sabha from 1991 to 1996.
Patil was born in aMarathi family[3][4] on 19 December 1934 in the village ofNadgaon inJalgaon,Maharashtra. She was the daughter of Narayanrao Patil.[5] She was educated initially at R. R. Vidyalaya town and subsequently was awarded a master's degree in Political Science and Economics byMooljee Jetha College,Jalgaon (then underPoona University), and then a Bachelor of Law degree byGovernment Law College, Bombay, affiliated to theUniversity of Bombay (now University of Mumbai). Patil then began to practice law at the Jalgaon District Court, while also taking interest in social issues such as improving the conditions faced by Indian women.[6]
Patil had held various Cabinet portfolios during her period in theMaharashtra Legislative Assembly and held official positions in both theRajya Sabha andLok Sabha. In addition, she had been the president of theMaharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee for a few years. Also, she held office as Director of the National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies and as a Member of the Governing Council of the National Co-operative Union of India.[5]
The Chief Justice of IndiaK. G. Balakrishnan administering the oath of the office of the President of India to Pratibha Patil at a swearing-in ceremony in the central hall of Parliament, in New Delhi.
Patil was announced as theUnited Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate on 14 June 2007. She emerged as a compromise candidate after the left-wing parties of the alliance would not agree to the nomination of formerHome MinisterShivraj Patil orKaran Singh.[11] Patil had been loyal to the INC and theNehru–Gandhi family for decades and this was considered to be a significant factor in her selection by INC leaderSonia Gandhi, although Patil said that she had no intention of being a "rubber-stamp president".[9][12]
In the same month that she was selected as a member of the UPA, Patil was accused of shielding her brother, G. N. Patil, in the 2005Vishram Patil murder case. Vishram Patil had narrowly defeated G. N. Patil in an election to be the President of the District Congress Committee of Jalgaon and in September of that year had been murdered. Vishram Patil's widow eventually accused G. N. Patil of involvement in the crime and claimed that Pratibha Patil had influenced the criminal investigation and that the issue needed to be examined before presidential immunity became active.[13] Her accusations were rejected by the courts in 2009[14] but in 2015 G. N. Patil was charged. No reference to the alleged involvement of Pratibha Patil was made at this time.[15]
Due to the presidential role being largely afigurehead position, the selection of the candidate is often arranged by consensus among the various political parties and the candidate runs unopposed.[16] Contrary to the normal pattern of events, Patil faced a challenge in the election. The BBC described the situation as "the latest casualty of the country's increasingly partisan politics and [it] highlights what is widely seen as an acute crisis of leadership". It "degenerated into unseemly mudslinging between the ruling party and the opposition".[17] Her challenger wasBhairon Singh Shekhawat, the incumbent vice-president and aBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran. Shekhawat stood as an independent candidate and was supported by theNational Democratic Alliance (NDA), a group led by the BJP,[18] although theShiv Sena party, which was a part of NDA, supported her because of herMarathi origin.[19]
Those opposed to Patil becoming president claimed that she lacked charisma, experience, and ability. They also highlighted her time spent away from high-level politics and queried her belief in the supernatural, such as her claim to have received a message fromDada Lekhraj, a deadguru.[9][17][20] Various specific issues were raised, such as a comment made by her in 1975 that those suffering from hereditary diseases should be sterilised.[9] Another alleged that while a Member of Parliament forAmravati she diverted Rs 3.6 million from herMPLADS fund to a trust run by her husband. This was in violation of Government rules which barred MPs from providing funds to organisations run by their relatives.[21] The parliamentary affairs minister denied any wrongdoing on Patil's part and noted that the funds are used underMPLADS, by theComptroller and Auditor General of India.[22]
Patil won the election held on 19 July 2007. She garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes[23] and, on 25 July 2007, took oath as India's12th President, the first woman to hold the position.[24][25]
President Patil addressing the Indians on the eve of Independence Day, 2007President Patil and her husband with theQueen andPrince Philip atWindsor Castle, 2009
Patil's term as the President of India saw various controversies and is widely considered as lackluster.[26] Shecommuted death sentences of 35 petitioners to life, a record. President's Office, however, defended this by saying that President had granted clemency to the petitioners after due consideration and examining the advice of the Home Ministry.[27][28]
Patil was noted for having spent more money on foreign trips, and having taken a greater number of foreign trips, than any previous president.[29] Sometimes accompanied by as many as 11 members of her family, there had been 12 foreign trips spanning 22 countries by May 2012, when she was away on her 13th trip. Those completed travels had cost Rs 205crore (Rs 2.05 billion). TheMinistry of External Affairs said that taking family members "was not abnormal".[30]
The Office of President has a five-year term[17] and Patil retired from the role in July 2012.[31]
Patil allegedly used public funds to build a retirement mansion on a 260,000 square feet (24,000 m2) plot of military land inPune. Tradition is that a retiring president either takes residence in Government accommodation in Delhi or moves back to their residence in their home state; her use of government money to build a retirement home at the end of the presidential term was unprecedented.[32] Other controversies that arose after her retirement included her desire to claim both an official government car and fuel allowance for the running of a private car, despite rules clearly stipulating that this was an either/or situation. She also took possession of many gifts that had been given to her in her official role and was later forced to return them.[33]
In addition, Patil founded a cooperative bank,Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank, that ceased trading in February 2003 when its licence was cancelled by theReserve Bank of India. Among other failings, the bank had given illegal loans to her relatives that exceeded the bank's share capital. It had also given a loan to her sugar mill which was never repaid. The bank waived these loans, and this drove it into liquidation. The government liquidator of the bank, P. D. Nigam, said, "The fact that relatives of the founder chairperson (Pratibha Patil) were among those indiscriminately granted loans and that some illegal loan waivers were done has come up in our audit." Six of the top ten defaulters in the bank were linked to her relatives. The INC claimed that Patil had not been involved with the bank since 1994 butThe Indian Express reported that it had official documents showing her involvement as late as 2002.[36][37]
