Don't be perturbed by baseless charges: Pratibha Patil

Bhopal, July 11: UPA Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil todayadvised her supporters to fulfill their responsibility to uphold thebasic principles and secular values ''unperturbed by attempts ofcharacter assassination''.

''We have a responsibility to uphold the dignity of the highoffice as enshrined in the constitution'', she told a gathering of MLAsand MPs from Madhya Pradesh while seeking their support in thePresidential election scheduled on July 19.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress spokesman SatyavratChaturvedi said Mrs Patil also conveyed her gratitude to the people'srepresentatives belonging to Congress and other parties for extendingtheir support.

Besides Congress legislators, NCP MLA Hamid Kazi and RashtriyaSamanata Dal leader Harsh Singh also attended the meeting, MrChaturvedi said, adding three Congress MLAs did not turn up afteradvance notice due to unavoidable circumstances.

Bahujan Samaj Party and CPI(M) also supported Mrs Patil's candidature, he said.

Union ministers Arjun Singh, Suresh Pachouri, Kantilal Bhuria andPrithviraj Chouhan, Congress General Secretaries Digvijay Singh and VNarayanasami also attended the meeting at a city hotel.

After her brief interaction with her supporters here, Mrs Patilleft for Jaipur by a special aircraft. She is also scheduled to visitRaipur this evening before returning to New Delhi.

Earlier, she was given a rousing on her arrival at Bairagarh airport here.

UNI

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