The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan defends Pratibha Patil

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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Manmohan defends Pratibha Patil

Special Correspondent

No charge, only mudslinging, he says

“Environmental reasons behind sugar mills’ failure”
To visit U.S. in September

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday defended the United Progressive Alliance-Left candidate for President, Pratibha Patil, accusing her detractors of indulging in “mudslinging.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a book release function at his residence here, Dr. Singh said that in the case of her sugar mill — which was served a notice by a bank for failure to repay a loan — nobody levelled any charge of wrongdoing against Ms. Patil. “This is only mudslinging,” he said.

The Prime Minister said there were “environmental reasons” behind the failure of sugar mills in Maharashtra and noted that the Jansatta newspaper just published a list of 72 such mills, which defaulted as a result.

Remarks against Kalam

Asked about the propriety of the comments made by two senior ministers in his Cabinet about President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Dr. Singh said those remarks had to be seen in context. Earlier, President Kalam spoke about a second term if there was “consensus” but then raised the issue of “certainty.”

It was in the context of this change that the ministers commented on his candidature, the Prime Minister added.

Nuclear deal

On the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, Dr. Singh said there were “one or two” difficult areas and efforts were under way to resolve them. He expressed his hope that these would be settled and said he had every intention of taking Parliament into confidence on the final shape of the agreement.

Though he had been invited by President George W. Bush to visit the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas, in August, he had a very busy domestic schedule that month and it was not yet clear whether he would be able to travel then, Dr. Singh said. He would go to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly in September.

Earlier, releasing the book, The New Asia Power Dynamic, edited by veteran diplomat M.K. Rasgotra, the Prime Minister said a rising Asia was altering the global balance of wealth and power, and the continent “must learn to de al with this opportunity.”

Asian countries needed to improve their understanding of one another by conducting their own research and studies and not relying on perspectives developed in Europe and the U.S.

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