New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Thursday denied any rift in the ruling combine and rejected accusations that its leaders had any role in the alleged financial irregularities of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
"NCP leaders have nothing to do with the IPL controversy. There is no proof of that," party general secretary D.P. Tripathy told reporters here.
Tripathy denied that the row has caused any rift with the Congress after top NCP leaders -- Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel -- were linked to the IPL row.
"There is no issue with the Congress... There is no tension between the Congress and the NCP," Tripathi asserted, adding that the party "doesn't think that the Congress is gunning for Pawar". The Congress leads the UPA at the centre.
To a query if the Congress was behaving like a big brother, the NCP leader said: "Yes, the Congress is a big brother. They are 206 (MPs in Lok Sabha), we are nine. But, both of us are together as far as the government is concerned."
The remarks from Tripathy came following reports that Patel had forwarded an e-mail to Shashi Tharoor containing projections of new franchisee valuations for the bidding of new IPL teams and Pawar's son-in-law Sadanand Sule owned a stake in an IPL broadcaster. Tharoor was forced to quit as minister of state for external affairs following his controversial links with the IPL Kochi franchise.
The Economic Times Thursday reported that Patel's personal secretary had sent the e-mail after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the same document to the aviation minister's daughter and IPL hospitality manager Poorna Patel.
But Tripathy said there was nothing wrong in sharing a document that was "public".
"I don't think there is anything wrong in that. She (Poorna) gets an e-mail, forwards it to the personal secretary of her father, to be forwarded to Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor had sought the information which was not classified. It was a public document. What is wrong in that?" the NCP leader said.
Pawar's daughter and Sule's wife Supriya, who is a Lok Sabha MP, also denied any role of her husband in the IPL other than being an avid cricket follower.
Referring to Poorna, Supriya told reporters outside parliament that "she is a nice kid … don't slug her… she is a young, enterprising, qualified 24-year-old… who has a right to decide what she wants to do."
The row over cash-rich IPL erupted after IPL commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Tharoor had allegedly misused his office to benefit his close friend Sunanda Pushkar, who got Rs.70 crore sweat equity in the IPL Kochi franchise.
The IPL row is since refusing to die down after serious allegations of money laundering, gambling and tax evasion by franchise owners. Modi is also under the scanner.