Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 4: Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi has alleged that he has been subjected to sustained political attacks by Congress leaders over the years, claiming that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi frequently invokes his name during speeches and election campaigns despite no case being proven against him.
In an interview with ANI, the businessman, currently residing in the United Kingdom, questioned why his name continues to feature prominently in political discourse and maintained that he has become a convenient target for political criticism.
“Every time you look at Parliament, or you look at the speeches of Mr Rahul Gandhi, he always attacks me. Every time there’s an election, he attacks me. Every time there’s some issue that comes up, I’m being attacked. Why am I being attacked by the Congress government?” Lalit Modi asked.
The former IPL chief further argued that authorities have failed to establish any wrongdoing against him despite years of scrutiny.
“Seventeen years you haven’t taken me to court. How can you arrest me today? If there was something there, it would be out. Anything that I have done, or could have done, in the 17 years would have already been cleared. That is why there is no case against me,” he said.
Addressing comparisons with industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, who have also faced criticism from Rahul Gandhi, Lalit Modi said his association with cricket has kept him in the public spotlight.
“They don’t sell newspapers. They don’t sell news. I sell news. Because cricket is so big. Cricket has become so big. Cricket has put me in the limelight,” he remarked.
While asserting that he has no fear of legal proceedings, Modi claimed he remains concerned about politically motivated campaigns against him.
“I’m not afraid of the law. What I’m afraid of is that you have some people who are political. Whether they sit in the opposition or they sit anywhere else, they have an axe against me,” he said.
Revisiting the controversy surrounding the Kochi IPL franchise, Lalit Modi made fresh allegations regarding political intervention during the dispute. He claimed that senior leaders in the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government supported former Union minister Shashi Tharoor after questions were raised over the franchise’s ownership structure.
When asked who backed Tharoor during the controversy, Modi replied, “Sonia Gandhi.”
He further alleged that several senior Congress leaders contacted him during the episode.
“All guns were trained on me from every side. I got calls from Ahmed Patel. I got calls from Pranab Mukherjee in those days. I was friendly with everyone of them. You had Rajiv Shukla coming up to me, telling me, do this, do that,” he claimed.
According to Modi, concerns arose over the allocation of equity within the Kochi consortium, particularly involving the late Sunanda Pushkar.
“All the shareholders were there except for the lady, Sunanda Pushkar. You’re giving away 25 per cent shares to a lady called Sunanda Pushkar. Who is she? You’re giving up 15 per cent of the revenue. Who is she?” he recalled asking consortium members.
He alleged that the consortium’s financial structure was questionable and claimed that some shareholders were receiving significant equity without contributing proportionately to the investment.
Modi maintained that his objections were based on transparency concerns and the financial viability of the franchise arrangement. He further claimed that pressure mounted from various quarters after he refused to overlook the issues he had identified in the ownership structure.