Who is Dilip Walse Patil? Maharashtra’s Next Possible Home Minister and Close Aide to Sharad Pawar

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh stepped down from his post citing ‘moral grounds’ after he tendered his resignation to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. The development came shortly after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh against him. “Deshmukh informed NCP chief Sharad Pawar that it won’t be appropriate to remain in the post as CBI will be probing the charges against him,” senior party minister Nawab Malik told reporters.

According to sources, NCP leader Dilip Walse Patil is likely to replace Deshmukh as the new home minister of Maharashtra. Patil, hailing from Maharashtra’s Ambegaon, has served as the member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for six terms and is currently serving as minister of excise and labour department in the Uddhav Thakeray cabinet. Earlier as cabinet minister from 1999 to 2008, Patil headed the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Energy Ministry, Higher and Technical Education Ministry, and Medical Education Ministry.

Patil is known to be close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar and started his political as his Personal Assistant. His father Dattatray Walse Patil has been a former Congress MLA and Pawar’s friend. In 1990, Patil defeated Kisanrao Bankhele in Ambegaon to become a member of Maharashtra legislative assembly for the first time on Congress ticket. The constituency has been his stronghold since then. Patil followed Pawar to NCP in 1999 and soon held ministerial posts.

He is currently serving as the President of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited (NFCSF).