New Delhi, Apr 23 (DHNS) : The IPL saga has so far had one political casualty – Shashi Tharoor who lost his job as Minister of State for External Affairs.
The next head to roll could be that of flamboyant IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. But a larger can of worms might have been opened with reports of the involvement of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
The UPA is worried now that reports are emerging that Agriculture Minister and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar’s son-in-law Sadanand Sule holds 10 per cent stake in MSM which has broadcast rights for the IPL T20 competition.
Praful Patel and Supriya Sule
With reports surfacing on Thursday of civil aviation minister Praful Patel’s private secretary sending an e-mail to Shashi Tharoor, who quit as the IPL controversy broke out, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament.
Mukherjee briefed Singh on various aspects of the IPL controversy as well as the ongoing investigation against the owners of IPL teams. The names of Patel as well as Sadanand Sule reportedly figured in the discussion. Pawar and Patel are leaders of NCP, a prominent partner in the UPA government.
On its part, the BCCI reiterated that the IPL governing council (GC) meeting will be held as scheduled on April 26 notwithstanding the opposition from Modi. According to reports, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar will likely move the resolution seeking Modi’s removal as commissioner. Modi is said to be considering the option of moving the Bombay High Court for an injunction on the GC meeting. Patel, who just two days ago denied any sort of involvement in the cash-rich IPL, confirmed on Thursday media reports that his private secretary Champa Bharadwaj had e-mailed Tharoor documents containing projections of the new franchisee valuations in the IPL.
The e-mail was forwarded to Tharoor’s personal e-mail account on March 19, two days before the bids were opened. It happened hours after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the document to Patel’s daughter and IPL hospitality manager Poorna Patel. Praful Patel now says it was Tharoor who had sought his help.
“Shashi Tharoor called me because he was putting together a team (Kochi). He wanted me to speak to Modi and help him out. This has got nothing to do with IPL. This is a needless controversy,” Patel claimed.
There were reports of involvement of Sule holding 10 per cent stake in MSM, which holds IPL broadcast rights. Reacting to this, NCP MP and Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule said: “My father-in-law was chairman of Sony since 1992. The whole world knows it.
He is 84-years-old and has been unwell for a long time and that is why he (husband) got it but only as a proxy. Nothing else.”
On the $80 million facilitation fee allegedly given to sports management company World Sports Group (WSG) for securing television rights from IPL, Sule said: “Nothing. No. Nothing. I cross my heart and say this.”
Political observers here hinted that Opposition parties, who have alreadt tasted victory with Tharoor’s sack, may now raise the demand for the resignation of Patel from the Cabinet for alleged misuse of office.
However, ruling coalition sources indicated that even if pressure mounts, it would not be easy for the government to obtain Patel’s resignation since he belonged to the NCP.
Ruling out the possibility of Patel’s resignation, the NCP denied any rift in the ruling combine and rejected accusations that its leaders had any role in the alleged financial irregularities of the IPL.
“NCP leaders have nothing to do with the IPL controversy. There is no proof of that,” party general secretary D P Tripathi told reporters here.
“There is no issue with the Congress...There is no tension between the Congress and the NCP”.