BJP keeps Patil pot boiling, calls PM remark comical

With a booklet chronicling allegations against Pratibha Patil and countering Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s defence of the UPA presidential candidate...

With a booklet chronicling allegations against Pratibha Patil and countering Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s defence of the UPA presidential candidate, the BJP on Thursday kept the pot boiling for the election to the country8217;s top post.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad refuted the Prime Minister8217;s statement that the party was indulging in 8220;mudslinging8221; against Patil. Prasad said the BJP did not make any allegation against the UPA candidate and was merely seeking an explanation from her on information that had come out in public domain through different sources.

Prasad said Singh8217;s remarks were 8220;comical and ironical8221;. 8220;Charges against the UPA candidate are disturbing, stark and unfortunate,8221; said Prasad. He alleged that the RBI had 8220;condemned8221; the entire working of Patil8217;s Mahila Sahakari Bank in its 2003 report. 8220;Manmohan Singh has been a former governor of the RBI. Should a legitimate question emanating from such a report be called mudslinging?8221; Prasad said.

The BJP spokesperson alleged that bank employees had complained that their one-day wages deducted for the Kargil war fund were never deposited in that fund. 8220;8230;how can the nation have an assurance about her as the supreme commander of the armed forces in the event she becomes the President?8221; Prasad added.

He also accused Patil of filling up vacant SC, ST and OBC posts in her bank with her relatives and wondered whether the Prime Minister or the Congress chief had undertaken 8220;due diligence8221; before announcing her as the presidential candidate.

BJP8217;s booklet on Patil has two articles by former Union minister Arun Shourie on allegations against her. The booklet will go to each voter in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, NDA spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said she did not expect Patil to withdraw in the wake of allegations. 8220;I am not expecting her to withdraw8230;. I don8217;t think she will withdraw.8221; She said the NDA on its part would file a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, whom she accused of using undue influence on voters in the presidential elections.