CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan on Friday came out in support of Pratibha Patil, the UPA-Left presidential candidate, asking why the allegations against her had taken so long to come out. “If there was a genuine case, they would have filed a case. Why has all this come out now?” he asked.
“They are not aware of the cooperative movement and its ups and downs. Why should only one sugar mill be singled out?” he asked, adding that a list of bankrupt cooperative banks and loan-defaulting sugar mills were on the way.
“It will prove that not one single political party can claim immunity,” he said, citing liquidation notices against his own party’s housing and coopera tive initiative.
Taking a dig at BJP leader L K Advani, who recently referred to Patil as “tainted”, Bardhan said: “She has not faced any court case, nor a commission. Nor did her name figure in the hawala diaries.”
Bardhan went on to suggest that two other regional parties-the National Conference and the RLD-have assured their support to Patil. “In fact, the NC leadership will most probably announce its support before voting,” he said, adding that “she will win not by one, but two lakh votes.”
– Indian Express (June 29, 2007)
