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S. K. Patil

(1898 – 1981) – (Maharashtra)

Sadashiv Kanoji Patil (Aged 83) also known as S.K. Patil, was a Congress leader from Maharashtra who was born in 1898. He was a veteran freedom fighter, a qualified journalist, scholar and orator. Patil was thrice elected as the Mayor of Bombay and was known as “the uncrowned king of Bombay”. He supported, assisted and nurtured many institutions, particularly in Mumbai, and enriched the city culturally.

After studying law in Poona, he migrated to Bombay in 1921 to join the Chambers of Barrister Velingkar at the age of 23. He started his own law practice in 1929 and primarily practiced in the Small Causes Court and the City Civil Court. He also handled a few civil appeal cases on the Appellate Side of the Bombay High Court. Patil was a Member of Parliament from Bombay when it was part of the unified Bombay State. He was a Union Minister during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. From 1964 to 1967, he served as the Union Minister for Railways.

Despite being elected as an MP thrice, he was defeated by George Fernandes in the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency in 1967 for the 4th Lok Sabha. He then fought a by-poll from Banaskantha in Gujarat and rejoined the Lok Sabha. In 1969, during the split in the Congress party, he, along with Morarji Desai and Nijalingappa, became the leading lights of the Congress faction. He contested from Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat in 1971 on Congress ticket but lost to the Congress candidate.

In the Lok Sabha discussions on the report of the States Reorganisation Commission on 15 November 1955, Patil demanded that Bombay city be constituted as an autonomous city-state, laying great stress on its cosmopolitan character. However, Bombay State was partitioned into the present-day states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960, and the city of Bombay (now called Mumbai) became the capital of Maharashtra. Patil passed away in 1981.