Jayant Rajaram Patil (born 16 February 1962) is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He has been representing Islampur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for more than 3 decades. He was the Cabinet Minister of the Water Resources Department in Uddhav Thackeray ministry. Previously he has been the Rural Development Minister (2009 to 2014), the Finance Minister (1999 to 2008) and the Home Minister (2008 to 2009) of Maharashtra. Early life and education Jayant Patil is the younger son of former Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and celebrated veteran Congress leader, Rajarambapu Patil. He was named ‘jayant’ meaning victorious, since he was born shortly after his father’s first electoral victory in the 1962 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election. Jayantrao completed his Bachelors in Civil Engineering from the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute and subsequently left to pursue his Masters’ Degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA. Unfortunately, after the sudden death of Rajarambapu Patil in 1984, Jayant Patil had to return from the USA. After returning to his home town he preferred not to contest any parliamentary election and became involved in social work through his father’s cooperative organisations. With the determination and persistence of the people, he was unanimously elected the President of the Kasegaon Education Society and the Chairman of the Walwa Sugar Cooperation in the same year. After working around six years in the overall development of the Sangli area, Patil was given a ticket to contest the State Legislative Assembly elections from Walwa at the age of 28. Entry into politics Patil contested the 1990 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election on an Indian National Congress ticket from Walwa in the Sangli District. Since then, he has represented Islampur-Walwa constituency 7 times, i.e. 30 years with an average margin of 62,000. Between 1995 and 1999, when the first Sena-BJP Government was in power in the State, Jayant Patil was a part of the famous ‘Patil Troika’ which kept the saffron Government on its toes in the Assembly. Among the two other Patils were the former Deputy Chief Minister, R. R. Patil and former Assembly speaker Dilip Walse-Patil. After their split from Congress in 1999, the Patil Troika decided to throw their weight behind Sharad Pawar. Formation of Nationalist Congress Party In 1999, after the 12th Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections to the 13th Lok Sabha were called, Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq