All MPs and MLAs, except Sonia Gandhi and the PM will get a letter from Advani, asking them to “cast a conscience vote" to uphold the dignity of the President House.
Coaxes MPs, MLAs in a letter to vote against Pratibha, appeals for conscience vote NEW DELHI: All 4,896 electors of the Presidential College, with the exception of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will find a letter from Leader of the Opposition, LK Advani, asking them to ponder “what if the Rashtrapati Bhawan gets a tainted occupant” and appealed “cast a conscience vote to uphold the dignity” of the President House.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is expected to follow suit. In a bid to ignite conscience of 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs, who together form the Electoral College, Advani in his six-page handwritten letter recalled the excesses of Emergency that were committed 32 years ago, when then President signed on the proclamation without even asking then Prime Minister whether it was approved by the Cabinet. In a clear reference to the ruling UPA-Left candidate Pratibha Patil, Advani wrote: “If you have in chair a pliant person who is loyal not to the Constitution but just to an individual, this is always likely to happen.” The letters were despatched on Thursday.
Referring to the charges made against Pratibha Patil and her kin and the Congress’s assertion that it was “smear campaign by the opponents, Advani said: “These charges relate not just to financial misconduct, but also to an allegation pertaining to protection of criminalisation of politics. Some of the charges in the first category have invited strictures from the RBI, the second category of allegation has been implicitly endorsed by the Bombay High Court.”
The former deputy Prime Minister mentioned the number of times it went to Rashtrapati Bhawan to petition the President seeking action against inclusion of “tainted ministers” in the government.
In his letter, Advani at no place seeks a vote for Shekhawat. Instead he asks for a conscience vote. But while doing so, he has completely rubbished candidature of Pratibha Patil.
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