Pratibha Patil: First female President of India who never lost an election she contested in

Even though the tenure of Patil as President was lacklustre, her election to the post was a trendsetter and showed what women could do in this India of the modern age.

Pratibha Patil started her professional career as a practising lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court. When she was just 27 years old, she successfully contested her first election to the Maharashtra Assembly. Patil defeated Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the presidential election held on July 19, 2007.

New Delhi: Since 1950, when Rajendra Prasad assumed the office of the President after India became a Republic, we did not have any female President till 2007. The 57-year-old barrier was finally broken by Pratibha Patil, when she became the President of India on July 25, 2007. It was an achievement that showed the giant strides women had made towards progress and equality in our country, which, like many other societies and civilisations, was mainly a patriarchal one for a long time. Even though the tenure of Patil as President was lacklustre, her election to the post was a trendsetter and showed what women could do in this India of the modern age.

Pratibha Patil: First female President of India who never lost an election she contested in News9 Staff 21 July 2022 1:50 PM Patil was the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from 1988 to 1990. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) Even though the tenure of Patil as President was lacklustre, her election to the post was a trendsetter and showed what women could do in this India of the modern age. News Pratibha Patil started her professional career as a practising lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court. When she was just 27 years old, she successfully contested her first election to the Maharashtra Assembly. Patil defeated Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the presidential election held on July 19, 2007. New Delhi: Since 1950, when Rajendra Prasad assumed the office of the President after India became a Republic, we did not have any female President till 2007. The 57-year-old barrier was finally broken by Pratibha Patil, when she became the President of India on July 25, 2007. It was an achievement that showed the giant strides women had made towards progress and equality in our country, which, like many other societies and civilisations, was mainly a patriarchal one for a long time. Even though the tenure of Patil as President was lacklustre, her election to the post was a trendsetter and showed what women could do in this India of the modern age. Also Read - New work from home rules announced: All you need to know about them Pratibha Patil: The female President who showed the way For all those girls and women dreaming of making it big in life, Pratibha Patil is indeed a person who showed the way with a torch in her hand. She travelled on a road that was not taken till then but traversed it with courage and determination. The early life of Pratibha Patil Pratibha Patil was born on December 19, 1934, in Nadgaon village of Jalgaon in Maharashtra. She completed her initial education in a Jalgaon school and later obtained a Master's degree in Political Science and Economics from Mooljee Jetha College in Jalgaon. She also has a Bachelor of Law degree from the Government Law College, Mumbai. While in college, she took an active part in sports, excelled in table tennis and won several shields at various Inter-collegiate tournaments. Even after she became an MLA, she pursued her studies as a law student. Also Read - Martyrs Day or Shahid Diwas: History, significance and all you need to know She started her professional career as a practising lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court and simultaneously devoted herself to various social activities, especially, for the upliftment of poor women. The political career of Pratibha Patil When Pratibha Patil was just 27 years old, she successfully contested her first election to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Jalgaon Assembly constituency. Subsequently, she was elected four consecutive times as an MLA from the Edlabad (Muktai Nagar) constituency between 1967 and 1985. Also Read - Racial Harmony Day 2022: History, significance and all you need to know After that, she served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1990 and was later elected as a Member of Parliament to the 10th Lok Sabha in the 1991 general elections from the Amravati constituency. Also, she was the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from 1988 to 1990. A unique record Pratibha Patil enjoys the unique distinction of not having lost a single election that she contested to date. Also Read - This day, that year: What happened on July 21 in history Her positions in the Maharashtra government Pratibha Patil, in her long stint in Maharashtra, has held various positions both in the government and in the state Legislative Assembly She was the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Prohibition, Tourism, Housing and Parliamentary Affairs from 1967 to 1972, Minister of Social Welfare from 1972 to 1974, Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare from 1974 to 1975, Minister of Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural Affairs from 1975 to 1976, Minister of Education from 1977 to 1978, Minister of Urban Development and Housing from 1982 to 1983, and Minister of Civil Supplies and Social Welfare from 1983 to 1985. She also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from July 1979 to February 1980. In the Rajya Sabha, Patil was the Deputy Chairperson from 1986 to 1988 and also served as the Chairperson from July 25, 1987, to September 2, 1987, when Dr R Venkataraman got elected as President of India. She was also the Chairperson of the Committee of Privileges in Rajya Sabha and a Member of the Business Advisory Committee in Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988. In the Lok Sabha, Patil was the Chairperson of the House Committee. Pratibha Patil as the President of India Pratibha Patil took a sabbatical from politics and returned to the arena as on November 8, 2004, as the 17th Governor of Rajasthan. She was the first woman to hold that office. Three years later, on June 14, 2007, Patil was announced as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate for the Presidential election of that year. Patil was loyal to the Congress and the Nehru–Gandhi family for decades and it was considered to be a significant factor in her selection by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Patil, on her part, said at that time that she had no intention of being a "rubber-stamp President". She defeated Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the presidential election held on July 19, 2007. She received almost two-thirds of the votes and took oath on July 25, 2007, as the 12th President of India and the first female President of the country. Her tenure as the President was controversial and is considered lacklustre. She commuted the death sentences of 35 petitioners to life, which is a record. She was criticised for allegedly spending huge amounts of money on foreign trips, and no previous President took more foreign trips than her. 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. The total cost of those completed travels was Rs 205 crore. Patil retired from the post of President in July 2012. She allegedly used public funds to build a retirement mansion on a 2,60,000-square feet plot of military land in Pune. Traditionally, a President of India, after retiring from office, either lives in government accommodation in Delhi or moves back to their residence in their home state, and that is why her use of government money to build a retirement home at the end of the presidential term was something unprecedented. Once, she reportedly stated 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. Patil in the international forums Pratibha Patil has represented India in various international forums, including the International Council on Social Welfare conferences at Nairobi and at Puerto Rico. In 1985, she was a member of the Congress delegation to Bulgaria. She led the Indian delegation to the Conference on the 'Status of Women' in Austria and was a delegate at the World Women's Conference in Beijing, China in September 1995. Social activities Patil has set up several institutions for the underprivileged sections of society and women, including hostels for working women in Mumbai and Delhi, an Engineering College at Jalgaon for rural youth, the Shram Sadhana Trust which takes part in multifarious welfare activities for the development of women, and Industrial Training School for the visually handicapped in Jalgaon, schools for poor children of Vimukta Jatis (Nomadic Tribes) and for children of Backward Classes in Amravati District and a Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Amravati in Maharashtra. She played a pioneering role in setting up the Mahila Vikas Mahamandal, an undertaking of the Maharashtra government for women's development. She organised music, computer and sewing classes for the poor and needy women at Amravati, and also organized the Women's Home Guard in Jalgaon District and was their Commandant in 1962. Private life of Pratibha Patil Patil married Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat on July 7, 1965. The couple has a daughter, Jyoti Rathore and a son, Rajendra Singh, who is also a politician. Devisingh was the first Mayor of Amravati Municipal Corporation and also represented the Amravati constituency as its MLA. https://www.news9live.com/knowledge/pratibha-patil-first-female-president-of-india-who-never-lost-an-election-she-contested-in-184091