New Delhi: The NDA lapped up media reports that UPA-Left presidential candidate Pratibha Patil had sanctioned Rs 36 lakh to a
family-run trust from her MPLAD funds as Lok Sabha member in 1995 and petitioned Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to refer the matter to Parliament's privileges committee.
In a memorandum submitted to the Speaker, the NDA also cited news reports that the Maharashtra Government leased a 25,000 sq-foot plot to the Vidya Bharati Shikshan Sanstha this year and Amaravati authorities permitted it to build a sports complex from that amount.
"Patil's tenure as MP (Lok Sabha) ended in 1996. How can unutilised funds under MPLAD be used 11 years after the expiry of her tenure as MP?" the BJP-led coaltion, which is supporting independent presidential candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, asked.
BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who filed the complaint with the Speaker, noted that MPs were required to honour MPLAD scheme rules that no funding is permissible to societies and trusts if the recommending MPs or any of their family members are part of their managing committee.
The NDA also referred to news reports that said Amrawati's Vidya Bharati Shikshan Sanstha was set up by Patil's husband Devisingh Shekhawat.
"Hasn't Pratibha Patil violated this rule? Isn't it a far more serious offence if a person aspiring to become the President of India knowingly violates these rules?" it asked.
In its memorandum, the NDA, which maintained that Patil had not rebutted point-by-point allegations against her in connection with her role as head of a cooperative, said the Speaker should refer the MPLAD matter to the ethics or privileges committee.
NDA convenor George Fernandes and BJP leaders Raghubir Singh Kaushan and Kishan Singh Sangwan were part of the delegation.
(With PTI reports)
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