Pratibha Patil: News

Pratibha Patil is an Indian politician, former member of the Indian National Congress (INC), and the first female President of India. Born in Nadgaon in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, she obtained a degree in law from the Government Law College, Mumbai. She pursued a career in law until 1962 when she joined the INC and contested her first State Legislative Assembly election from Jalgaon. Patil went on to win and continued to stay in the Vidhan Sabha till 1985, after being elected four times from Muktainagar consecutively. In the state government, she held key portfolios such as Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare, Education, Urban Development and Housing, and Civil Supplies and Social Welfare, among others. She left the Vidhan Sabha and became a Member of Parliament in 1985 when she won a seat in the Rajya Sabha, where she served later as the Deputy Chairman during 1986-88. She went on to be a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991. After a brief hiatus, Patil was chosen by UPA’s Sonia Gandhi as the presidential candidate in 2007. She won the presidential election and took the oath the same year. However, Patil’s tenure as the President saw a lot of controversies regarding her illegal usage of government funds and properties. She was succeeded by former Union Minister Pranav Mukherjee as the President in 2012.