Obituary: RR Patil's honesty and integrity set him apart from his colleagues

To many in the English media, former Maharashtra home minister and senior NCP leader RR Patil was a moral police who was hell bent on shutting down dance bars.

To those from his village, and many from rural Maharashtra, he was a beacon of hope. A hope that a small man can make it big on the political scene even though he didn’t have any political dynasty behind him. From a zilla parishad member to Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, RR’s journey was phenomenal.

RR’s honesty and integrity set him apart from his colleagues and indeed, from 95 percent of the politicians in this country. One could accuse him of everything under the sun except corruption. I remember having several interactions with RR - not all of them were pleasant and yet one could never say that his intentions were bad. He did what he believed in and put his heart and soul in it. He resisted what he felt was bad, even if it meant going against his party colleagues and bosses.

There is one facet of RR’s personality that I want to highlight. How many of us have seen RR’s mother, wife, kids, sister or brother? How many of us have seen their pictures anywhere? This man was in the limelight for 20 years and not even once did they share the glory. “If my son works hard in the political field, he will get his due. Why should it come to him on a platter, by virtue of being my son?” he would ask. It was a gutsy statement to make when all politicians, including his mentor Sharad Pawar pushed their sons, daughters and nephews to the forefront. Today, the man who made his way up despite not having any dynasty background, has left without one.

He was the darling of the media till the 26/11 Mumbai attacks happened, but not having let the village out of his soul, he couldn’t articulate his sentiments too well in Hindi. In one night, he became the object of ridicule. Saddened, RR took it to heart and got a tutor to teach him better Hindi. But when it came to Marathi, there were few like him. RR showed his skills first as a legislator in the Maharashtra assembly when he was part of the opposition in 1995. His speeches were fiery, he never erred on his facts and most importantly, they were not personal.

Though his career as Rural Development Minister went unnoticed by the English media, it was the best period of his life. The Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets praises for today, RR managed without spending a dime - by getting villages to compete with each other for cleanliness. Unlike celebrity photo ops that we see today with limited ground action, villagers contributed wholeheartedly for the mission. It was one of the showcase missions for Maharashtra and also helped his party grow at the grass-root level.

Then came his stint as Home Minister and deputy chief minister. RR’s cabin in the Mantralaya was the most thronged. Crowds came from all over the state to talk to him- they believed in him and that he was a non-corrupt politician who would listen to them. They waited patiently and he did not disappoint them. Officers were summoned and asked to provide solutions. There were flaws in how he handled the Home department, but they were not due to corrupt motives. His superiors understood it and allowed him to function his way. Sharad and Ajit Pawar knew RR was the mainstay after the likes of Chhagan Bhujbal and Vijaysinh Mohite Patil failed to deliver. 

RR was the face of the NCP till 26/11 happened. After which it all went downhill and became a big struggle for the man to stage a comeback. He was constantly plagued by the infighting that pulled him down, his ministerial colleagues openly snubbed him. There were occasions when it looked like they had managed to put RR on the mat. But he emerged successful every time.

One had sincerely hoped that he would bounce back after cancer afflicted him. But this was not to be.