Shivraj Patil as I knew him - A Tribute by Onkar Kedia

Shivraj Patil, veteran Congress leader with deep roots in public life, served seven terms in the Lok Sabha and held key positions including Union Home Minister and Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He passed away on 12 December 2025. Onkar Kedia, who worked closely with him during his tenure as head of the Media Unit in the Ministry of Home Affairs, offers a personal tribute. In his reflections, Kedia recalls the leader as he knew him and comments in passing on the media’s often casual working style.

Shivraj Patil as I knew him

Onkar Kedia

Shivraj Patil died last Friday at the age of 90, largely unsung. He had been living a rather anonymous life for the past few years, but it cannot be ignored that he had had a long political innings, holding very important positions like the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Union Home Minister. I have a feeling that he deserved a better farewell.

I first came in contact with Shivraj Patil when I was given the charge of media relations in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. His image as the Union Home Minister was nothing to envy about. Terrorist and Naxal attacks were taking place every other day, with people dying in scores. In Parliament and every other forum, Shivraj Patil used to call Naxals ‘our brothers and sisters’. Journalists used to make fun of him whenever he used this expression. He was widely perceived as a weak Home Minister. During his time, people used to fondly remember one of his illustrious predecessors, Lauh Purush Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. His lack of suitability for the post of the Union Home Minister was the talk of the town. It was rumoured that when he was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, he impressed Sonia Gandhi with his handling of the House and later guided her in her journey as an MP. The general impression was that he was given the important portfolio of Home Affairs because of his closeness to Soniaji. 

When I first met him, I found him quite worried about his image. He had no high opinion about the fairness and competence of the media. I had unhindered access to him. He allowed me to meet him any time at his residence or in his office. Sometimes, I got carried away and sat in meetings where my presence could logically be frowned upon. 

I tried my best to help improve his image, but without much success. He was a gentleman and wanted to remain so in words and deeds. It was not possible for anyone to project him as a tough Home Minister, as his demeanour easily gave him away. He was incapable of giving media a print-worthy story. He did not enjoy interacting with media and wanted his bureaucrats to deal with it. 

On several occasions, he told me that in media, someone floats a story about someone else and then everyone latches onto it. He tried to convince me that it was not possible for me to do anything inconsistent with this basic character of media. Whenever he received poor coverage in media, instead of scolding, he comforted me. He was almost resigned to the fact that whatever he did, media would continue to criticize him. 

To some extent, this was true as well. Shivraj Patil may not have succeeded in stopping terrorist and Naxal attacks, but he very enthusiastically pursued institutional reforms. His initiatives on police reforms never received the coverage they deserved. He was reluctant to crack down on Naxals, who he believed, were misguided youth, but he was not oblivious of the magnitude of the Naxal problem. He wanted to resolve the issue through peaceful means. He was a believer in consensus, a trait which his training as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha must have strengthened. On all major issues including Kashmir, he believed in holding discussions with various political parties and civil society groups. 

When he was the Union Home Minister, Presidential elections were due. Some newspapers reported that he would be the Congress candidate for the post of President. At that time, the Congress had a comfortable majority in Parliament and the State Assemblies. Anyone receiving the Congress nomination was sure to get elected as the President. I was convinced that Shivraj Patil was much better equipped to be the President than the Union Home Minister. I also nursed the ambition of moving to the Rashtrapati Bhawan as his Media Advisor, but this was not to be. 

His exit from the Union Home Ministry awaited a big terrorist incident which finally came in the form of the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. He was replaced by P.Chidambaram with whom I got the opportunity to work closely for years. Chidambaram was very different, tough, smart and media-savvy. I realized that it was possible for two Union Home Ministers of the same Government to work in diametrically opposite ways. The personal attributes and beliefs of a Minister play a key role in how the affairs of his or her Ministry are conducted. 

It is not fair to ignore Shivraj Patil’s qualities, just because he had limited success as the Union Home Minister. He was a man of many qualities. He had the ability to visualize things and anticipate what others failed to see. I remember a meeting where he was discussing with some experts installation of a statue on a beach. He talked at length about approach road to the statue, its size, material it should consist of, beautification of the site and so on. There was no aspect which escaped his attention. 

He was a man of dignity. I never heard him talking ill of anyone. He seldom lost his temper. Whenever he did, he vented his feelings on someone’s face and not at his back. Physically and mentally, he was quite fit. I found him immediately returning to work after long and tiring journeys. Above all, he was a good human being.

Rest in peace, Shivraj Patil. The qualities of character that you had are not easy to find among politicians these days. 

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Onkar Kedia has been a career Civil Servant who retired from the Central Government Service in 2019. After retirement, he shifted to Assam and joined the state government as Director General of the Sports Authority of Assam. Later, he was appointed as a Member of the Assam Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, where he served until recently. He has been writing poems in Hindi and English on his blogs http://betterurlife.blogspot.com/ and http://onkarkedia.blogspot.com/