Congress gives clean chit to Pratibha Patil

Jaipur, June 30 (UNI) The Congress today gave a clean chit to ruling UPA-Left combine Presidential election nominee Pratibha Patil in allegations levelled against her by the BJP.

Talking to reporters here today, AICC Spokesman Mohan Prakash said that Ms Patil had held the post of Chairperson in the bank referred by the BJP in its ''baseless allegations'' merely for 38 days way back in 1990 and she had even quit the board of directors of the bank in 1994.

Mr Prakash said therefore, it was wrong to say that she had misused office or influenced to favour her kin who were subsequently reported as defaulters in the bank loans.

Moreover, it was Ms Patil who was contesting the election and not her kin, he added.

Condemning the BJP for making a ''false allegation'' against a woman fielded by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the Presidency, Mr Prakash said the BJP was in old habit of resisting the moves advanced by the Congress towards woman empowerment.

Earlier, the saffron party had opposed Ms Gandhi and had made an indecent allegation campaign against the Congress chief, Mr Prakash recalled.

Contrary to the BJP allegations, Ms Patil had a 45-year-old track record of doing impressive service of rural poor and masses and working for women empowerment, he said.

Even as the Governor of Rajasthan, her three-year-long tenure had projected her as a competent person in the gubernatorial post, Mr Prakash added.

UNI