Pawar’s power play for Pratibha

NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday came out strongly in support of Pratibha Patil.  “In 45 years of my public life, as a voter or being associated with elections, I have never seen this kind of mud-slinging,” he said.

Asked who was behind this campaign, he said, “Who is Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni (who was former PM Vajpayee’s media adviser)?What is his background?” Pawar asked.

Pawar said he had met Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who, he said, was “shocked” as to how his colleague’s house was used for this “dirty campaign”. Selected journalists were invited to former Akali Dal Minister Sukhdev Dhindsa’s house on Friday where Rajni Patel made the allegation that Pratbiha Patil was tried to hush up the murder case against her brother.

Referring to the reported murder case in Jalgaon, Pawar asserted that the UPA nominee was in no way connected with the case. “Her brother’s name is nowhere in the FIR or the first charge sheet,” he said.

”There was never any inquiry under Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act against her as a person or as director of the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd, Jalgaon,” he said. “The audit report has also not held any individual responsible for the default.”

Refuting the charge that the sugar mill run by the bank had defaulted on payment of the loan, Pawar said as many as 74 mills were issued notices in December 2006 and it was “unfortunate that only one particular case has been brought up in the media”.