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Journalism of Courage
Initially the Congress ignored the allegations against UPA presidential candidate Pratibha Patil. But after a point, it decided to parade alliance partners in a show of solidarity. The party8217;s defensive attitude was not lost on allies.
8220;Is it only our duty to defend her? Will you also say something?8221; asked RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav to the Congress emissary who called him for a press conference. Lalu, the DMK8217;s M Karunanidhi and CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan proved the staunchest defenders of Patil as most Congress leaders played safe. The CPIM, however, is trying to distance itself from the campaign and a request to attend the joint press conference was turned down by the party. The Marxists are increasingly feeling let down by the Congress and admit that they perhaps involved themselves a little too much in the candidate selection which should have been left to the Congress.
