 In the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government (1999–2004), he was Minister of State for Rural Development.Patil is a consulting engineer and technologist by profession.Educated at Pune university and Louislana University USA, Patil is an MSC (chemical engineering) and ANSI, Sugar Technology from National Sugar Institute Kanpur Patil took to politics into 1990's and was elected to the lok sabha for the first time in 1996 as a BJP candidate.