A former Union Home Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker, Shivraj Patil, who passed away Friday at the age of 91, was one of the tallest leaders the Congress produced in Maharashtra.

Patil chose to remain active in national politics, while the late Vilasrao Deshmukh, another Congress heavyweight from Latur, handled state politics. However, in the end, Patil’s legacy may be defined to a large extent by his tenure in the Ministry of Home Affairs from May 22, 2004, till his resignation on November 30, 2008, days after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai .

Patil’s tenure as Home Minister covered a turbulent period in internal security that included several high-profile terror incidents and sharp public scrutiny of the ministry’s preparedness and response. His time in the ministry was beset by

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