Smt Pratibha Devi Singh Patil hailed from a village called Nadgaon in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. She was born as the only daughter of Narayan Rao Patil on 19th December, 1934. She received her primary and secondary education from R.R.Vidyalaya and went on to receive her master’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Mooljee Jetha College. Patil also completed a bachelor degree in Law, awarded to her by the Government Law College, Bombay, and start practicing soon after. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil had always been interested in social issues, particularly those pertaining to women and was keen on working towards alleviating them.

Her journey in politics did not stop here. In 2007, Pratibha Patil was nominated to become the president of India, a position that was never held by any woman in India until then.

Many people believe that her journey to the presidency position was, to a great extent, influenced by her strong connection to the Nehru-Gandhi family as well as by other situational factors. Pratibha Singh Patil became a compromise candidate, nominated by Sonia Gandhi herself, following a dispute among the members over the other nominee. Compromise or not, Pratibha did manage to make history by becoming the first woman who has been honored with the position of the head of the state.

All the citizens of the country had great expectations for her, particularly since her predecessor was the nation’s beloved, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

From the very beginning of her presidential career, she became the centre of many controversies. For instance, in the same month when she was nominated for the position, she was accused of defending her brother, G.N. Patil in the 2005 murder case of Vishram Patil. The victim died in the same month after he secured a narrow victory over G.N. Patil in the 2005 district elections of Jalgaon. Vishram Patil’s wife suspected G.N. Patil’s involvement in the crime and blamed Pratibha Singh Patil for manipulating the criminal investigation process. Her claims were rejected by the courts in 2009 although G.N. Patil was charged for the case in 2015. Pratibha Singh’s connection to the case remains unverified.

Many political leaders opposed Pratibha becoming the president. They believed that she did not have the experience and lacked the charisma to lead a nation. Many rumors also circulated that Pratibha Singh Patil dwelled on superstitious beliefs. Many also accused her of appropriating the MPLADS funds for her husband’s trust. Despite all these obstacles, Pratibha managed to win the presidential elections and took office from 25th July, 2007.

She gave clemency to 35 prisoners who were expecting death sentences. While some people justified her actions by calling her merciful, many of her opponents considered her weak and inefficient. She was noted for undertaking a lot of foreign trips and spending a larger amount of money as compared to her predecessors. Her foreign trips included many members of her own family, and the expenses from about 12 trips summed up to 205 crores, according to government records. She also made headlines when she used a huge portion of government funds, build a retirement house on a military plot in Pune.

She, along with her husband, set up the Vidya Bharati Shikshan Prasarak, an educational institute operating as a chain of schools and colleges in Amravati, Jalgaon and Mumbai.  She also initiated the Shram Sadhana Trust, which operates hostels for working women in New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. She was also the co-founder of a cooperative sugar factory known as Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana.

Compared to the past presidents, Pratibha Singh Patil could not leave an impressive mark on the people because of the controversies she created. However, the fact remains that she created a history by becoming the first woman who entered a domain of men and took the highest position in the country.