UPA should change candidate for presidential poll: Gadkari

Nagpur, June 23 (UNI) Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari today said the UPA should change its Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil in view of the serious allegations being levelled against her.

Speaking to newsmen here, Mr Gadkari said it was inappropriate for a candidate for the country's top political post to be embroiled in a controversy. The allegations were of serious nature and would cause acute embarrassment, especially to the people from Maharashtra, if Ms Patil entered Rashtrapati Bhawan, he said.

''It will be against the dignity of the post of President,'' he said.

''The President should have a spotless record. I am, therefore, requesting, not demanding, that UPA field somebody other than Ms Patil for the election. Both, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi laid stress on clear records, and I hope they will make the appropriate decision,'' Mr Gadkari said.

Mr Singh and Ms Gandhi should have checked Ms Patil's background before finalising her name as the UPA's presidential nominee, he said.

It was unfortunate that the presidential candidate should face allegations that a cooperative sugar factory founded by her had defaulted on the repayment of a loan, that she was shielding her brother in a murder case, and that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had cancelled the licence of a cooperative bank she established, Mr Gadkari said.

Mr Gadkari said Ms Patil could not escape responsibility for the default in repayment of a loan by a sugar factory that she founded even if she was not a director at present. The law clearly stated that even former directors of a cooperative would be responsible if a default occurred during their tenure, he said.

''It will be a sad day for Indian democracy if a person whose reputation was under a cloud occupied the post of President,'' he added.

Replying to questions, Mr Gadkari reiterated that Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray would never support Ms Patil in the Presidential poll.

UNI