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| Serious threat to Pratibha Patil's candidature | | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, JUNE 26: Spotlights will continue to be on Pratibha Patil, Presidential nominee of the ruling UPA-Left combine. Her candidature for the July 19 polls is getting murkier day by day. Even as her rival, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is in a difficult situation, it is generally felt that her remarks of ‘forcible sterilisation’ of minority Muslims made during the Emergency in 1975 and her alleged involvement in a major financial irregularity case, have come back to haunt her.
Worse, her misplaced comments on veil recently, have left Congress gasping for fresh air. While the UPA-Left combine is doing everything to defend Pratibha Patil, key coalition partners feel cross-voting against her could become a reality in the elections following the accusations against her. Political parties have reacted with stunning silence over reports raking up her remarks of ‘forcible sterilisation’.
At a time when the UPA alliance is showcasing her as a candidate with credentials in “social welfare and empowerment,” many in political circles suggest that Pratibha Patil’s track record could be extremely dubious. It would not be surprising if this upsets the electoral college of votes. Many may feel as to why allegations are being levelled against her at a time when she has been chosen as the Presidential nominee by the UPA. Yet in view of the records, her past performance has not only been controversial, but also unsavoury on many occasions.
The masses that wanted APJ Abdul Kalam as President for the second term, owing to his flawless contributions in science and technology, could be in for surprise seeing Pratibha Patil as President. It is said that six months into the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s infamous Emergency on December 10, 1975, Pratibha Patil as Minister for Health in the then Chief Minister SBChavan’s cabinet in Maharashtra, had endorsed a proposal seeking to make ‘family planning’ compulsory for all citizens, including the Muslim community.
According to Maharashtra Assembly records, Patil had told Muslim League MLAs: Keep religion at home, family planning is ‘true religion’. While expressing deep loyalty for Indira Gandhi in an utter display of her conviction in Emergency, Pratibha Patil had said: “My opinion is that whatever religion one practises, he should keep it at home and adopt family planning as the true religion”.
According to the proceedings recorded in Volume 46 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, she said: “It is not proper to say that family planning is against any religion... some Muslim countries too practise family planning. It is not proper (for Muslims) to oppose family planning in the name of religion”. The Congress is quick to deny her remarks made in the Maharashtra Assembly, saying “she was quoted out of context”. For some, it may also look like a deliberate attempt to tarnish Pratibha Patil’s image when she is set to become the President next month. The Opposition says it is all very simple to comprehend her habit of making repeated errors. Whether deliberate or not, if she makes it as President, it will be disastrous, point out political analysts.
Majority of allegations that are being made against her are proving to be more facts than fiction. While some accusations like she ‘sheltering her family members,’ allegedly involved in murder cases could be taken with a pinch of salt, there are many instances where she has been found guilty of shooting her mouth off without any substance. In one case, she is accused of corruption and financial irregularities. NDA leaders say: “The Congress should have dug up her past to know whether she was fit to be India’s President. What can we do, other than oppose, if Congress itself has chosen her, who has a track record that defy her claim for being a suitable President”.
Reports investigating into her involvement into the alleged bank scam case says Pratibha Patil was the founding chairperson of the bank and later, along with a number of her relatives, was one of its directors. She is currently one of the 34 respondents in an ongoing case in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on the subject of mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds. Congress refutes this asking why was this case of alleged financial irregularity not brought up earlier? But the fact remains that the Ministry of Finance in a letter dated April 26, 2002, asked the RBI to inquire into allegations of fund irregularities after receiving complaints from the Cooperative Bank Employees Union and its small depositors.
According to complaints sent by the bank’s union leaders, as many as a dozen of Pratibha Patil’s relatives were granted loans totalling Rs2.2 crore, including penalties, by the bank. The list of relatives who received loans from her bank, meant for improving the plight of Jalgaon people, women in particular, includes her brothers and nephews. The RBI states in a report: “Pratibha Patil is the founder member of the bank, who is a politically influential personality. She has made all her relatives as directors of the bank and the bank is being run as good as a family business. Because of the influence of respondent no 8 (Prathiba Patil) the bank has given various loans to the relatives and to a sugar factory of which she is a director”.
The writ petition filed by the banks’ depositors in the High Court has made serious and more direct allegations against the founder chairperson, say reports. Pratibha Patil has refused to comment on the issue saying the matter is in court. Congress has rubbished the report blaming the otherwise weak Opposition saying: “Old issues are being dredged up to malign Pratibha Patil”.
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