[11] In 1999, he acted as campaign manager of the Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.

In 2002, Shinde lost the election for the post of Vice-President of India contesting against the National Democratic Alliance candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

[12][13][14] Shinde became the leader of Lok Sabha after his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee was elected President of India.

[16][17] His tenure as a Home Minister saw two major decisions of hanging the terrorists Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab.

[18] During the 2012 northern India power grid failure, Shinde deflected criticism by observing that India was not alone in suffering major power outages, as the United States and Brazil had both experienced similar blackouts within the previous few years.

[19][20] Officials in Uttar Pradesh, where the problem was believed to have begun, said the grid could not keep up with the huge demand for power in the hot summer.