New Delhi: In what is fast becoming a mud slinging match, the BJP on Wednesday released a book containing two investigative articles on the UPA-Left Presidential candidate, Pratibha Patil.
The articles have been written by former union minister, Arun Shourie and call for "safeguarding" the highest Constitutional office in the country from "taint".
In one of the articles, Shourie has attacked the 'women's empowerment campaign' in support of Patil alleging that a cooperative bank she had set up in her own name had been liquidated under RBI orders.
The booklet is titled Does This Tainted Person Deserve to Become the President of India?, and lists relatives of Patil, who it alleges defaulted almost Rs 2.25 crore of bank loans together.
The list alleges Patil's brother Dilipsingh N Patil and her nephews Kishor Dilipsingh Patil and Randhirsingh Dilipsingh Rajput were among those who have not repaid the loans.
"But who were the depositors? They were the poor women of the area -- who were eking out a living by selling vegetables, by collecting rags...," it says in an article titled, Here is How to Empower Women?.
Shourie's booklet also refers to allegations by a woman from Jalgaon who had said that Pratibha Patil had protected her brother in a murder case.
Coming to Patil's rescue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rubbished the charges as "mudslinging" saying there was no evidence that Pratibha Patil herself was involved in any of the irregularities.
The Prime Minister also took the chance to defend two of his ministers who attacked President A P J Abdul Kalam after he said he would opt for a second term if there is certainty of victory.
"We hold President Kalam in high esteem," Singh was quoted by news agency PTI as saying but added the ministers were talking in a particular context when they made the comments against him.
Singh was apparently trying to suggest that once one offers oneself for election, it is not proper to talk about "certainty" of win.
(With inputs from PTI)
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