From a small town lawyer in Maharashtra to being chosen the UPA-Left nominee for the post of the President, Pratibha Patil's dream run has seen her making her way up the ladder in the Congress and the corridors of power in a steady manner.Seventy-two-year-old Patil, holder of a masters' degree in law, has vast experience - both as a politician and an administrator - having held key positions in the Maharashtra unit of the Congress and ministerial portfolios before occupying the Rajya Sabha Deputy chairperson's post for about two years.Nearly eight years after her tenure as a Lok Sabha member ended in 1996, Patil, a staunch loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi family and a non-controversial personality, had gone into virtual political wilderness before she was brought in as the Governor of Rajasthan in November 2004.Born on December 19, 1934 in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, Patil - who filed her nomination for the Presidential polls today - practised as a lawyer before joining politics.She was a member of the Maharashtra assembly from 1962 to 1985, and served as a minister holding portfolios like urban development, housing, education, tourism, parliamentary affairs, public health and social welfare and cultural affairs, working her way up from deputy minister to cabinet rank even as she rose in the Congress hierarchy.Patil also has the experience of being a leader of the opposition when Sharad Pawar, as head of the Purogami Lok Dal, became Maharshtra Chief Minister for the first time in July 1979.Patil's stint in the Parliament began in 1985 when she was elected to the Rajya Sabha and was the Deputy Chairperson from November 18, 1986 to November 5, 1988. Between 1986 and 1988, she also headed the parliamentary committee on privileges.She was the chief of the Maharashtra unit of the Congress during 1988-90 before being elected to the Lok Sabha from Amravati in 1991.Patil, who never lost an election, had gone into virtual political hibernation at the end of her tenure in the Lok Sabha and her only appearance in the political scene of Maharashtra was taking part in the party's campaign in polls. It was in November 2004 that the Congress leadership recalled her to become the Governor of Rajasthan.Married to Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat, an educationist whose family migrated from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan to Jalgaon a few generations back, Patil has a daughter, Jyoti Rathore, and a son, Rajendra Singh.
