Sadashiv Kanoji Patil (abbreviated as S. K. Patil) (1898–1981) was a former Congress leader from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. A veteran freedom-fighter, he was a qualified journalist, scholar and orator. He was thrice elected mayor of Bombay and was known as "the uncrowned king of Bombay". He supported, assisted and nurtured a number of institutions, particularly in Mumbai and enriched the city culturally.

Early life

He was born in 1898 in the village of Zarap between Kudal and Sawantwadi. His father was a police officer in

Kolhapur State The Kolhapur State was a Maratha princely state of India, under the Deccan Division of the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agency. It was considered the most important of the Maratha principalities with the others being Baroda Sta ...

. He studied law in Poona, then migrated to Bombay at the age of 23 in 1921 to join the chambers of barrister Velingkar. He started his own law practice in 1929 and practised primarily in the small causes court and the city civil court, and a few civil appeal cases on the appellate side of the Bombay High Court. He was briefed to appear with M.A. Jinnah in a few criminal cases in the early 1930s. By the end of his active practice in the mid 1940s, he came to be known as a forceful pleader in first appeals before the high court. He was frequently briefed to appear before various district courts in Bombay Province.

Career

He was the Member of Parliament from

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

when it was part of the unified

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

. He was a union minister during the time of

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, Lal Bahadur Shashtri and

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. From 1964 to 1967 he was the union minister for railways. Though a three-time MP, he was defeated by

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian politician, trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the Minister of Defence (India), Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, h ...

Mumbai South (Lok Sabha constituency) Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. Assembly segments Presently, after the implementation of the President of India, Presidential notification on d ...

in 1967 for

4th Lok Sabha The 4th Lok Sabha was in session from 4 March 1967 to 27 December 1970. Its members were elected in February and March 1967. 13 sitting members from the Rajya Sabha were elected to the 4th Lok Sabha in the general election.Indira Gandhi was th ...

. He then fought a by-poll from

Banaskantha Banaskantha district is one of the thirty-four districts of the Gujarat state of India. The administrative headquarters and largest city is Palanpur. The district is in northeastern Gujarat where the West Banas River runs through the valley betw ...

in Gujarat and rejoined Lok Sabha. In 1969, during the split in the Congress party, he along with

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

and Nijalingappa became the leading lights of the Congress (O) faction. He contested from Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat in 1971 on Congress (O) ticket but lost to the Congress (R) candidate. In the ''

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

'' discussions on the report of the

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission of India (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Just ...

, on 15 November 1955, Patil demanded that the Bombay city be constituted as an autonomous city-state, laying great stress on its cosmopolitan character. He had said in a meeting that Maharashtra will not get Mumbai in 5000 years. However, Bombay state was partitioned into the present day states of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

in 1960, and the city of Bombay (now called

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

) became the capital of Maharashtra.

References

External links

*
S.K. Patil materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patil, S K 20th-century mayors of places in India Marathi politicians Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1962–1967 Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Mayors of Mumbai Indian political journalists 1898 births 1981 deaths Members of the Cabinet of India Railway ministers of India Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians 20th-century Indian journalists India MPs 1967–1970 Lok Sabha members from Gujarat Journalists from Maharashtra Politicians from Mumbai Ministers of power of India