Pratiba Patil, candidate of the UPA and left parties for the presidency, on Sunday described allegations made against her as “false and baseless”.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and other leaders of the DPA at a star hotel here, Ms Patil said “ in the last few days, a great deal has been written and spoken about me” and asserted that despite such “malicious” allegations and “ attempts to tarnish my image, I remain steadfast in my commitment to serve my countrymen and women to the highest and noble traditions of our democracy”.
Fraud
  The allegations relate to allegedly fraudulent management of a cooperative bank run in her name in Jalgaon and the consequent cancellation of its licence by the RBI in 2002 and of a sugar mill which never produced sugar and which took Rs 20 crore from the bank before going down.
Her brother faces criminal charge of driving a teacher in a school  run by him to suicide. Ms Patil, who flew into the city in the afternoon to take part in a massive women’s rally in her support organised by the DMK, the Congress and the left parties, besides the PMK, avoided the media.
At the dinner during which she formally appealed to the DPA legislators to support her, the media was allowed in only to hear her formal speech.
Earlier, addressing the rally along with Mr Karunanidhi and other leaders, including TNCC president M Krishnaswamy and AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, Ms Patil said she was committed to secularism, empowerment of women and inclusive growth.