Kaun Banega Next Prez

06-21-2007, 10:18 PM

What the ffff... Who is Pawar to advice Kalam? and using cricket lingo to do it. Bad enough he cannot stop farmer suicides, horrible that the BCCI has reached rock bottom, now he says Kalam should not play? <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' />

QUOTE NCP virtually asks Kalam not to contest

Agencies | New Delhi

NCP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today virtually gone ahead of its purview to ask President APJ Abdul Kalam not to be a "player" in the Presidential fray.

Ruling out its support for Kalam Pawar said, "he will not be at the crease. So, he will not be in the game. He will not be a player," NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who also heads the cricket control board, told reporters after signing nomination papers favouring UPA-Left candidate Pratibha Patil.

Describing Kalam as an "honest person to the core", Pawar said, however, it was a "pity" that a person occupying the highest post had suddenly started talking of a contest after having declared he was not at all interested in the fray.

"The match is over for Kalam ... We do not expect the game to be started again. We are very clear about that," Pawar said.

The NCP leader took a dig at Kalam for saying that he would contest if he was sure of victory.

"In a democracy, anyone interested in public life can contest Lok Sabha elections from whichever constituency one likes. But one cannot say that he will contest only if he wins," he said. (yeah, right, pawar is the one to talk, the *hole disbarred/expelled dalmia on some 1996 charges so that he would not have competition on bcci, he talks of fairplay! Heights of hypocrisies here)

06-21-2007, 10:29 PM

QUOTEBad enough he cannot stop farmer suicides
If that wasn't bad enough, Pawar and his buddies in Nagpur, Maharashtra are pulling a Singur/Nandigram type scam to hoodwink poor farmers - link in another thread.

Pawar who ditched his NCP founders to hope on Sonia's bandwagon should be the last person advising anyone on anything, let along Kalam. Someone ought to show this guy the door - just like the way Ricky Pointing pushed him off the stage a while back.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena stays away from NDA meet on Kalam ... did someone tell them that
Patil is not even a Marathi. She is a Gujarati, married to a Shekhawat

ramana · (This post was last modified: 06-22-2007, 04:12 AM by ramana.)

From Telegraph of Kolkota, 22 June 2007

<img src='http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070622/images/22numbers.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

QUOTEThe catch in the cross-vote hunt
- What Kalam or a common Opposition candidate will need to winÂ
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Â
New Delhi, June 21: Without bothering to wait for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to take strike, Sharad Pawar declared today with a dismissive air that the âmatch is overâ.

Pawar knows his politics â presumably some cricket as well since he is the BCCI boss â and he must have figured out what it will take Kalam to pull past Pratibha Patil in the unlikely event of the President entering the fray for a second stint.

If Kalam is hoping for an upset, here are some combinations he needs to rustle up: at least 116 UPA MLAs from his home state Tamil Nadu. In Pawar and Pratibhaâs Maharashtra, Kalam will have to have the vote of one more MLA.

Or he needs similar numbers from other states whose legislators have high-value votes.

These are not absolute figures, but an indication of what Kalam â or a common NDA-third front candidate â will require to wreck the calculations of the Congress-led UPA, Left and the Bahujan Samaj Party which together command 570,000 votes in an electoral college of 10,98,882 votes.

Provided, of course, the combined kitty of the BJP-led NDA and the newly formed third front â 4,60,970 â remains intact. And the remaining 67,912 â belonging to Independents and others â root for the âpeopleâs Presidentâ.

As of now, Pratibha Patil, the UPA-Left-BSP nominee, enjoys a cushion of about 20,000 votes over the half-way mark of 5,49,441.

Although the odds are loaded heavily against Kalam, there could be some cross-voting if he takes the plunge. Even then, Kalam still needs to get at least 20,560 votes from the UPA-Left-BSPâs kitty for another five years at Raisina Hills.

The equation, however, is not as simple as it looks.

While the 776 MPs from both Houses have a vote value of 708 each, the 4,120 MLAs, who together account for 5,49,474 votes, have different vote values calculated on the basis of the population of their states according to the 1971 census.

Thus, an MLA in Uttar Pradesh has a vote value of 208, but his counterpart in Sikkim has the lowest vote value of seven.

MLAs of Tamil Nadu, a state many believe could see cross-voting if Kalam joins the fray, command 176 votes each. The southern state, where the DMK, Congress, CPM and the CPI account for about 160 of the 234 MLAs in the electoral college, has a total vote value of 41,184.

In UPA-ruled Maharashtra, Pratibhaâs home state, the 288 MLAs have a vote value of 175 each. But Marathi pride could come into play, especially with the Opposition Shiv Sena, which has 62 MLAs.

Rajasthan, where each of the 200 MLAs has a vote value of 129, is yet another state many see to be on the boil. While Pratibha has been its governor, her husband, Devi Singh Shekhawat, is from the state.

Whether Kalam joins the fray or Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is also from Rajasthan, decides to challenge Patil, observers expect some amount of cross-voting in the state.

However, if there is no massive cross-voting, Pratibha appears set to become the countryâs first woman President.



Again Kalam saab has better chances than Shekawatji. There is possibilities in unexpected states once he becomes the candidate.

And some one needs to tell BT he is wrong in backing due to paraochial reasons. If his take is Afzal Guru, then Mrs. PP will commute the sentence at first instance. UPA can get her elected even without SS votes. He can request Kalam to let the law take its course after the election.

06-22-2007, 04:53 AM

QUOTEThe use of the word 'certainty' by Rashtrapati Bhawan in the context of a second term for Kalam was "very unfortunate. Never in the history a memorandum or a deputation to persuade somebody to become a candidate (for presidential election) has been done and nor should it be". It is "against culture and tradition".
-- Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunsi

"By announcing his candidature without even taking his consent, indirectly the Third Front leaders have pushed him to a difficult situation and made him answerable to it."
-- MK chief M Karunanidhi

"Kalam should resign gracefully as it is too late for any reconsideration on the issue."
-- Lalu Prasad Yadav

"The match is over for Kalam ... We do not expect the game to be started again. We are very clear about that."
-- Sharad Pawar


Who is UPA vice President candidate? I hope not Karunanidhi

06-22-2007, 04:55 AM

QUOTECommit to nation before filing papers, Modi tells PratibhaÂ 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has asked UPA presidential nominee Prathiba Patil to make a three-point commitment to the nation before filing her nomination papers.

Modi wants Patil to promise she would not allow any person of foreign origin to swear as Prime Minister; commit to the hanging of Md Afzal, who is mastermind behind attack on Parliament; and not to accept vote of Lalu Prasad, who protested against the Women Reservation Bill in Parliament.

In a statement, he made it clear that if Patil was in true sense committed to the people of the country and did not want to function as a rubber stamp, she must publicly admit her commitment by offering these three promises.

"It is really unfortunate that, tough stand adopted by the Congress has generated the controversy. Without taking any party into the confidence, Soniaji wants to impose her personal candidate, which has further complicated the issue," he added.

Coming out strongly in favour of Kalam for renomination and pointing out that Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has also lent his support to Kalam, the Gujarat Chief Minister wondered why Patil and the Congress party cannot display the same courage and spirit.

"Congress has been playing the vote bank politics of secularism for several decades... it should accept Kalam who is a true patriot and a person representing the minority community as the consensus candidate," Modi said

06-22-2007, 07:10 PM

It's politicians who elect the President, stupid!

QUOTEThis year, 543 members of the Lok Sabha and 233 members of the Rajya Sabha will directly participate in the Presidential election.

In addition, 4120 MLAs from 28 states and seven Union territories will also take part in the voting.


QUOTEThe value of each MLA's vote is arrived at by dividing the population of the state by the number of seats in the assembly. The figure is then multiplied by 1000. This multiplication was done to make figures manageable.

In Sikkim the value of an MLA's vote is just 7, while in Uttar Pradesh the value is 208.

Nominated member of the Houses including the two Anglo-Indian members nominated to the Lok Sabha are not entitled to vote. Similarly, the 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are not entitled to vote.

In case of members of Parliament, the value of their vote is determined by dividing the total value of votes of all the voters of the state assemblies by the total numbers of seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Kashyap says the purpose of all this "value business" was to arrive at a fine balance of votes between MLAs and MPs. The value of an MP's vote is around 708.

On the basis of the above calculations this time MLAs of the UPA and Left parties have 5,17,369 votes. The National Democratic Alliance's MLAs command 3,41,027 votes, while the regional parties and independents account for 2,37,662 votes.

All the parties know their "value", which is why the presidential election looks like a bargaining mela.

The Samajwadi Party has 59,845 votes, including the value of its MPs votes which is 38,232.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has already gained in many ways because she has in her pocket a voting strength of 45,162.

Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party has 14,036 votes, of which its MPs' votes are worth 7080.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Jayalalithaa has 19,280 votes in her kitty.

A huge chunk belongs to the left parties who have 1,10,480 votes. Their MPs have 54,516 votes while MLAs have 55,964 votes.

Karunanidhi is mediating in the politics behind the presidential election on the strength of his party's 29,752 votes.

The total value of the votes of all members of Parliament is 5,49,408 and that of the state assemblies is 5,49,474, the total value of the votes of 4896 members of the electoral college coming to 10,98,882.

06-22-2007, 07:13 PM

QUOTEWho is UPA vice President candidate? I hope not Karunanidhi 
VP post is mostly ceremonial. CM of TN is a lot more lucrative, he won't give that up unless Stalin or one of his kin takes over TN reins.

06-22-2007, 08:03 PM

UNPAâS plan jeopardised as Kalam opts out QUOTEâDr.Kalam feels wounded by the remarks from some high officials which denigrate the Presidentâs post. Therefore he has conveyed that he will only stand for the Presidential elections and that is his final decision.â

She said Kalam was extremely grateful for the love he had received from countrymen for his second term in the form of millions of e-mails, letters, SMSs etc.â He appreciated the UNPAâs efforts to garner support for a peopleâs President, she added.

ramana · 06-22-2007, 10:55 PM

When Prathiba Patil gets elected the first thing SG will do is fix Jayalalitha, CBN and BT. Those are must win states for INC/UPA in 2009.
I hope these folks(UNPA) realize they declared war/bared teeth and are walking away from the fight. There is no alternative but to crush them to prevent recurrence of their side show in future.

06-23-2007, 12:22 AM

Ramana: I don't think SG can do anything legistlatively via a puppet PM to either Jayalalitha, CBN and BT since voters have shown them the way out. Given the flip flop nature of turning incumbents out, chances are these people might infact come back in couple years with thumping majority just like Mayawati and Kurnanidhi did it recently in which case President really can't do much.

President's utility is most felt when the elections are close.

Battle will be for center in case of a fractured verdict in '09. Biggest losers here are people like Pawar, Lallu Yadav, Karunaniddhi etc who, with this selection of SG loyalists have practically kissed their PM ambitions at center good bye. I think it's the precise reason Lefties are still holding out (at state level they are pretty much well entrenched).

ramana · 06-23-2007, 12:58 AM

QUOTE(Viren @ Jun 22 2007, 06:52 PM)Ramana: I don't think SG can do anything legistlatively via a puppet PM to either Jayalalitha, CBN and BT since voters have shown them the way out. Given the flip flop nature of turning incumbentsÂ out, chances are these people might infact come back in couple years with thumping majority just like Mayawati and Kurnanidhi did it recently in which case President really can't do much.

President's utility is most felt when the elections are close.

Battle will be for center in case of a fractured verdict in '09. Biggest losers here are people like Pawar, Lallu Yadav, Karunaniddhi etc who, with this selection of SG loyalists have practically kissed their PM ambitions at center good bye. I think it's the precise reason Lefties are still holding out (at state level they are pretty much well entrenched).
[right][snapback]70449[/snapback][/right]


The bolded first part is what I am alluding to there are more ways to ensure these wont get a second chance. Wanna bet? SG's INC plays for keeps. Its not IG. What these folks in UNPA did was to bare there fangs without intention to fight. In jungle that is a no-no. So they will have to pay.

I think the biggest losers are the Indian public. These three are anyway shortimers in view of their advanced age and politcial standing.

I wish Pawar & Lallu could be made to eat crow for insulting Kalam saab.

06-23-2007, 01:43 AM

Pratibha is typical Congressi chor, Why to insult Kalam by comparing him with Pratibha.

QUOTEUPA nominee's co-op firm loan defaulter, gets notice 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Family faces legal action for defaulting Rs 17.5 cr loan
The family of Pratibha Patil, the ruling UPA presidential candidate could face legal action in a loan default case.

A CNN-IBN report showed that a cooperative sugar factory, of which Pratibha is the founder-president, has been declared a defaulter for failing to return a Rs 17. 5 crore bank loan.

Pratibha had quit the Sant Mukthai Cooperative Sugar Factory in 1996, but her brother GN Patil continues to be the president of the cooperative in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district. The factory owes the Mumbai District Cooperative Bank the Rs 17.5 crore.

The loans were taken in 1994. Bank officials say the loan has not been repaid despite repeated reminders. In a notice sent eight days ago, the bank had threatened to attach the factory's properties.

The bank says no one had even bothered to reply to the several reminders for repayment. The bank has now declared Sant Mukthai Sugar Cooperative a defaulter and has ordered it to be sealed.

The Congress, which leads the UPA, denied Pratibha or her family had defaulted on loans. "This is an attempt to tarnish the image of the presidential candidate. She has absolutely nothing to do with this. She has no connections with the bank and all this is a conspiracy to malign her image. The timing is very suspect too," said Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan.

"If there was a default, nothing prevented the bank from moving against people who are there and recovering whatever was due to the bank from the factory. The fact that it's come eight days before the presidential election speaks volumes. The media should not sensationalise," she said.

Natarajan also said there was no need for Patil to take any moral responsibility for the expose. "We are clearly having this discussion as she is a candidate who is set to become the first woman President of the country. She may or may not have been associated with the bank. Her family may run the sugar factory but she is not connected with it," said Natarajan.

06-23-2007, 02:07 AM

Very colourful character this G N Patil
QUOTERajni Patil, the accuser, says Pratibha Patil, the frontrunner for the Indian Presidency, has shielded a murderer.

âShe did it for her brother. I have nothing more to say,â said Rajni.

These allegations are already having an impact. The CBI has been asked to reinvestigate the alleged involvement of Pratibha Patil's brother, G N Patil, in the murder of Rajni's husband, Raju Sonavane.

Prez poll turns into a dirty game

QUOTEAt a meeting organised by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a grieving widow, Rajni Patil, told reporters that the brother had in September 2005 killed her husband VG Patil in Maharashtra.

Speaking in Hindi, at the residence of Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, she said: "Yes, she (Pratibha Patil) had been shielding her brother."

The Congress reacted angrily to the allegation.

"Certain people who were not able to find a proper candidate to match the stature of our candidate are attempting to find allegations against her," party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.

Pratibha sibling faces murder charge

ramana · (This post was last modified: 06-23-2007, 02:52 AM by ramana.)

From Tribune, 22 June 2007

Links the US and Indian elections for the top slot!

<img src='http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070622/edit.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

And

QUOTEPresidential poll
Competition in setting low standards
by B.G. VergheseÂ

THE Presidential poll has been notified. The race is on â with a late twist in the tale â but the process has sadly been sullied, not so much by the candidates but by party managers, aided by sections of the media, which displays a tendency to reduce everything to a tamasha. The first thing that needs to be said is that the two principal contenders, Ms Pratibha Patil, Governor of Rajasthan, and the Vice-President, Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, have conducted themselves with dignity. Both are eminently suitable and whosoever wins, the country will not
be the loser.

However, it defies understanding why the Congress is noisily insistent on a consensus in favour of Ms Patil and why the BJP has been so ungracious about her nomination. 

A presidential contest is a normal, healthy, democratic procedure and not something to be denounced or aborted. Why should not candidates be pitted against one another, outline their views and stand the test of public scrutiny before being called upon to assume high office. What is demeaning about it? Rather, it is the wholly undemocratic Congress culture, nurtured over decades, that has sought to avoid democratic contest and âmanageâ an authoritarian and oftentimes imposed party âconsensusâ to the detriment of values, processes and outcomes that is to be deplored. What has then been hailed as a âvictoryâ has time and again been a product of pressure and petulance, leaving behind a trail of bitterness, humiliation and hypocrisy that has done the party no good and set wrong standards.

To offload this âCongress cultureâ on the nation is a gross imposition and morally repugnant. The very idea of a constitutionally-ordained election under due process implies a contest and not a charade. Why run away? And the plea that âwe backed your candidate the last time and so you must return the favourâ is puerile. A consensus, if it comes, must come naturally. To argue that the nomination of a woman candidate demands consensus is equally fatuous. Gender is a qualification and certainly has high symbolic value. But it is only one qualification and the BJPâs retort that âyou did not support our woman candidate on a previous occasionâ is an illogical answer to a false proposition.

The BJP has been equally churlish in decrying Ms Patil as not âthe first or natural choiceâ of the UPA but merely a default candidate. Her name only came up publicly after the UPA partners failed to agree on any of the earlier nominees.

This is true but does not detract from Ms Patilâs suitability. She is well educated, an experienced legislator and has been a minister in her state and at the Centre, was a presiding officer in the Rajya Sabha, is now a Governor and has been a long time social worker. That is no mean record; and to be unassuming and have a reputation for integrity is no disqualification. Mr Shekhawat, too, has a fine reputation as a person with vast political experience. He, too, is eminently qualified for the job.

The problem lies in the fact that the Congress/UPA bandied about their possible choices prematurely. The media went to town with these, running all manner of polls and commentaries, some of which were not in good taste, trivialising the Presidential poll as a popularity contest.

The suggestion that Ms Patilâs main virtue is âloyaltyâ to the Congress President and is, therefore, a âsafeâ rubber-stamp who can be trusted to bail the Congress or the UPA out in any difficult situation in the future, is uncharitable and unfortunate. Why should loyalty to oneâs party of origin be a disqualification? Mr Shekhawat has risen above the BJP as Vice-President. Ms Patil must be relied upon to do the same should she be elected President and there is no reason to presume otherwise. High office very often makes the incumbent obedient to a higher loyalty â the Constitution. Certainly some have failed this test in the past. But to damn either of todayâs leading Presidential candidates for the real or alleged failure of others would be to deny virtue forever in every sphere. This is cynicism and nihilism gone wild.

The pre-selection process has certainly shown up certain weaknesses that call for debate and review. The notion that only politicians or administrators are suited to be Heads of State is fallacious. It is this narrowing of choice that has resulted in so many mediocrities and misfits being appointed Governors over the years. Regrettably, the criterion has been to induct hatchet men or fixers to do the Centreâs bidding or to put a failed politician out to pasture. The Governor has a constitutional role and is more than a figurehead. It also ill behoves Governors, chameleon-like, to tailor principles to the prevailing winds as we have witnessed very recently when the Governor of UP read an Address inaugurating the new Assembly accusing the previous government of being âunconstitutionalâ and of promoting âgoonda and mafia rajâ. How then did he preside over such criminality?

Independent professionals, academics and achievers can also fill high offices with grace and distinction. President Kalam is an obvious example. Regrettably, his name was bruited about unauthorisedly for ulterior motives. He has, however, surprised all by indicating willingness given âcertaintyâ. His late entry adds suspense but little clarity to what has become a murky comedy of errors.

06-23-2007, 07:28 PM

QUOTEAt the press conference, Rajni Patil alleged that Ms. Pratibha Patil's brother was in some way involved in the murder of her (Ms. Rajni Patil's) husband several years ago. The suggestion was that Ms. Pratibha Patil had used her political influence to protect her brother. Copies of her memorandum to the President on this issue were distributed to the press by Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, an aide of Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani.

Mr. Kulkarni, who was an aide in the Prime Minister's Office when Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister before he was attached to Mr. Advani told The Hindu that his presence at the press conference could not be the issue . "My presence is not the issue, the issue is the allegation made by Ms. Rajni Patil ... all the papers are with me, you can take them from me."


NDA, UNPA on a war ..

06-24-2007, 05:29 AM

QUOTE IOUs that BJP's ennui consumed

Swapan Dasgupta

If convention deemed that the President of India be chosen along strictly non-partisan lines, there is little doubt that Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat would have had a pretty resounding victory - assuming Pratibha Patil was his only rival. Shekhawat may be a tried and tested saffron loyalist - he was elected MLA on a Jana Sangh ticket in 1952 - but his appeal runs across parties. Unlike other presiding officers imagined life in Rashtrapati Bhavan, he ran the Rajya Sabha effectively and fairly for five years and established his reputation as the archetypal politician's politician.Â Â

Unfortunately, Shekhawat's personal popularity in the Electoral College isn't guaranteed to secure him a victory. The undistinguished and dodgy (assuming that the revelations about murder and unpaid loans are true) Congress nominee has a clear numerical advantage. To win, Shekhawat must be in a position to encash each and every IOU he has accumulated over the years.

That Shekhawat starts as the underdog is undeniable. The Congress believes that Sonia Gandhi's candidate is home and dry, particularly now that the Third Front (aka UNPA) has indicated that it cannot support any candidate supported by the NDA. Messrs Mulayam Singh Yadav and N Chandrababu Naidu are, of course, quite willing to gratefully accept the NDA's support for any candidate put up by them.

To what extent Shekhawat (assuming he contests) succeeds in overwhelming the tyranny of the whip with personal charm is the subject of ongoing speculation in the political class. However, much more than Shekhawat struggling against odds, it is the BJP which should start thinking why it finds itself on a sticky wicket. Naidu was, for example, quite happy to be an ally of the BJP in 1999 and 2004. Why, in just three years, does he believe that it is a liability to be seen to be even associating with a stalwart with a BJP background? Why, to reinforce the point, is the BJP having such a torrid time persuading some of its NDA allies that Shekhawat is worth persevering with?

The secular-communal debate does not provide any ready-made answers. There is nothing particularly contentious about Shekhawat as there is about, say, Narendra Modi. He has, all along been a centrist politician who has had his share of spats with the RSS. Nor has the BJP undertaken any viciously "communal" campaign since 2004 to warrant another bout of political untouchability. Why, therefore, has it once again become an object of disdain?

The answer lies in the BJP's loss of political momentum. The BJP may still be the second pole of Indian politics but it is gradually acquiring the reputation of a party with a glorious past and uncertain future. The Third Front constituents may lack numerical advantage for the moment but they perceive themselves to be the rising force that will call the shots after the next General Election.

This perception has been strengthened not merely by the BJP's disastrous showing in Uttar Pradesh but the party's complete unwillingness to acknowledge the rot that has set in. As things stand, the BJP is perceived as a party lacking leadership, clarity, purpose and, most important, integrity. Its anointed leadership show signs of either weariness or complete desperation. One wing is waiting for the other to falter while the ruling faction (yes it is nothing more than a faction) has retreated into the bunker and is busy detecting imaginary conspiracies. Meanwhile, on the sidelines, some people are merrily enjoying a lucrative private practice - running emigration rackets.

The rot in the BJP is not a State secret. It is known to its supporters, allies and detractors. The party is not seen as having the ability to either win a war of attrition or manoeuvre.

To break rank, legislators need to be excited by a longer-term political project - like the one they detected in Indira Gandhi's "conscience vote" call in 1969. As of now, a cross-vote for Shekhawat will be just for old time's sake.

06-24-2007, 09:12 PM

Fortuitous visit
PRATIBHA PATILâS name was included in the Congressâs âCâ list of prospective candidates as an afterthought. While preparing a list of woman nominees, in case the Left rejected the Congressâs âAâ and âBâ lists, the Rajasthan Governorâs name sprang to mind largely because she had just visited Delhi in connection with the Gurjjar violence in the state.

Patilâs resume looks more impressive on paper than in actuality. Her brief period as deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha during Rajiv Gandhiâs tenure as prime minister is cited to show that she is experienced in handling a legislature. But old-timers in Parliament recall that she officiated in the upper house for little over a year before Rajiv Gandhi removed her and brought back Najma Hepatulla. Patil was unable to keep the Opposition MPs in line when the Bofors scandal erupted. After that she was appointed president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. A prominent Congress leader from the state now supporting her candidature vigorously had remarked at that time, âWhy is this liability being thrust on us.â

Indispensable or dispensable

A supporter of Pranab Mukherjee noted bitterly that it took six weeks to come to the conclusion that Mukherjee was not the right name for the presidentâs post and six minutes to agree on Pratibha Patilâs name. If Mukherjee was so indispensable to the government, how come he wasnât made prime minister, he wonders. Pratibha Patil was such a dark horse that a DMK leader even asked innocently whether she was the wife of Shivraj Patil when he was first told her name.

06-25-2007, 04:39 AM

QUOTE Pratibha Patil was such a dark horse that a DMK leader even asked innocently whether she was the wife of Shivraj Patil when he was first told her name <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' />
No, may be mistress according to DMK leader atheist marriage dictionary.

06-25-2007, 07:50 PM

<img src='http://www.indianexpress.com/res/i/mediumImages/M_Id_7904.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Pratibha bank waived loans for kin before RBI shut it down
QUOTEThe list of relatives who received loans from the cooperative bank meant for improving the plight of the people of Jalgaon, and women in particular, include her brothers and nephews. 

QUOTE it was not possible for his son to take loans from a bank run for and controlled by women, admitted that he too had taken loans from the bank. 


QUOTEShe is currently one of the 34 respondents in an ongoing case in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on the subject of mismanagement of the bank and misappropriation of funds by its Managing Directors.


QUOTEThe RBI listed the waiver of loans to two of Patilâs nieces and her sister-in-law and noted, âit was observed that the above accounts were closed by the bank by waiving the penal interest and charging interest @ 13%. The bank had not taken approval of the members in the Annual General Meeting.â

These waivers were given to:

â¢ Anjali Dilipsingh Patil (Pratibha Patilâs niece), who got a waiver of Rs. 29.86 lakh

â¢ Kavita Aravind Patil (sister-in-law of Pratibha Patil), who got a waiver of Rs. 8.59 lakh; and

â¢ Rajkaur Dilipsingh Patil (another sister-in-law of Pratibha Patil), who got a waiver of Rs. 2.47 lakh.

The writ petition filed by the banksâ depositors in the High Court makes serious and more direct allegations against the founder chairperson.

It states, âPratibha Patil is the founder member of the bank who is a politically influential personality. She has made all her relatives as Directors of the bank and the bank is being run as good as a family business. Because of the influence of respondent no 8 (Prathiba Patil) the bank has given various loans to the relatives and to a sugar factory of which she is a Director. Her relatives have not paid back the loans. Most of the loans were given without security. Most of the loans are closed.â

Vijay Kumar Kakade, former president of Pratibha Sahakari Bank Karmachari Sangh, told The Indian Express that with the cancellation of its licence and commencement of liquidation process, the bank was closed and people lost their jobs. âPratibha Patil was responsible for this. There is no personal enmity with Patil madam, but we want to tell our countrymen that such a person is going to occupy the highest office.â

06-25-2007, 07:53 PM

Patilâs sterilisation quote âdistortedâ
QUOTEAccording to the Assembly records accessed, Patil had said: âWe are also thinking of forcible sterilisation for people with hereditary diseases.â

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