I want to clear my name Said Shashi Tharoor

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha for the first time since his resignation from the Union council of ministers, ousted minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor said that he had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an inquiry into the allegations against him in connection with the Kochi IPL franchise. 

"I have done nothing improper, unethical and much less illegal .... I have requested the Prime Minister to investigate thoroughly the charges against me,” he said. 

“It is important to me that my name is cleared, which has been besmirched,” Tharoor said, as he had lived a life of probity throughout his career abroad. 

"I have no desire to be an embarrassment to the government," he added. Tharoor said his resignation would strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to go deeper into the relevant issues 

Tharoor also said he was deeply wounded by the malicious and fanciful charges. "I am new to Indian politics, but I have a long record in public service and have an unblemished record," he added. 

Tharoor also played the Kerala card while presenting his defense in Parliament, "I have returned to India after a long international career. I am proud to represent Kerala," said the former minister. 

The ousted minister, however, did not directly rebut the charges leveled against him by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. 

The former minister of state said it was a privilege to have served the government and the Congress party under the leadership of Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. 

A minister can give a statement within seven days of his resignation after advance notice to the House. Tharoor met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the leader of the House in Lok Sabha, on Monday to express his wish to speak. 

Tharoor quit on Sunday night after the Congress leadership concluded that his involvement in IPL Kochi controversy made his continuation untenable. 

According to sources, the leadership vetted Tharoor's statement. The government is focussed on the finance bill and is keen that Parliament is not disrupted in the coming week when the guillotine on the demand for grants comes up and is to be followed by the discussion on finance bill. 

Congress leaders wanted to be careful that the minister should not say anything in his bid to claim innocence which may ruffle feathers in the Opposition camp or reignite the blockade which, in fact, played a role in fasttracking the decision on Tharoor. The BJP and others had blocked the House on Friday and threatened to block proceedings again to press for his resignation which made the government anxious. 

Amid the IPL controversy where Tharoor was charged with helping close friend Sunanda Pushkar to secure "sweat equity" with the Kochi franchise, he was allowed to make a statement in Lok Sabha on Friday. An agitated Opposition did not let him speak and he had to table his statement. He had claimed complete innocence, saying he had nothing to do with Pushkar's "sweat equity".

Lalit Modi on backfoot as income tax sleuths enter field

The government on Thursday fired a loud warning shot across the bow of the IPL ship, skippered by Lalit Modi, as income tax officers paid an unexpected visit to the BCCIs office in Mumbai, the first such expedition to the headquarters of Indian cricket by taxmen in 60 years. 

The officers asked for specific documents related to the IPL, including the funding details of the franchisees. Late in the evening they went to Lalit Modis office in Worli in Mumbai and were seeking certain information from the flamboyant but controversial IPL commissioner. 

The fast-paced developments indicated that the ugly spat between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor has not just got the tax department excited, but has also made the ruling establishment in Delhi disgusted with the testosterone-driven display of money and muscle. 

However, agriculture minister and former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar came out in support of Modi, saying there was nothing wrong in disclosing the names of stakeholders to the public and that he was within his rights to seek information about any bid. In an interview to a TV channel, he also said, I am absolutely clear that when Shashank Manohar will have this (governing council) meeting, all misunderstandings will be cleared. Pawar also clarified that Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had no role in the entire episode. 

But that may be only a minor relief for Lalit Modi. Although this visit of I-T sleuths doesnt qualify as a raid, it still assumes significance because of its timing smack in the middle of am escalating controversy over the IPL coffers, ownership pattern of franschisees and the source of their funds. 

It’s said record bids, dodgy source of funding, allegations of underhand dealings in awarding broadcast and marketing rights, lavish parties, have all combined to attract the attention of the tax authorities. A special team has been constituted to track the IPL showbiz. TOI first reported the taxmens heightened interest in IPL on April 14. 

Sources said the scrutiny can also help taxmen access the details of Rendezvous Sports something that can have a bearing on Shashi Tharoors ministerial innings. It is sure to compound matters for Modi whose handling of the dispute with Rendezvous has already attracted adverse attention from several quarters, including the ruling establishment. 

This tax probe can also fan the resentment which is growing among BCCI office bearers against Modi, because many of them now hold Modis aggressive ways responsible for embroiling the BCCI in unseemly and avoidable spats. 

The unease of the establishment with the IPL was evident on Thursday, with sports minister M S Gill demanding a probe into the the glamorous version of limited edition cricket whose phenomental success once promised to turn Modi into an icon of entrepreneurship. 

The success story has been read differently since the controversy broke about his alleged pressure on Rendezvous to abort their effort to own an IPL team. The spiralling spat brought out disturbing details of alleged manipulation of bids, misuse of funds, favouritism and nepotism in the distribution of lucrative business rights. 

Sources in the government said that Thursdays visit by tax officers were only a prelude to a larger scrutiny of the entire IPL business in which many franchisees and vendors as reported by TOI on April 14 are based in tax havens like Mauritius. The on-going probe so far was limited to seeking explanations from the IPL stakeholders. The team which returned with documents and computers are scheduled to visit the IPL office again on Friday. 

Accountability should be there. Democracy applies everywhere. Democracy is like a sunflower which seeks sunshine. 

Therefore all institutions should work accordingly, said Gill. 

A government intervention may not attract resistance from the Opposition, with the allegations of shady dealings eroding any immunity that IPL could have acquired because of its enormous success. On Thursday, BJP MPs, Gopinath Munde and Vinay Katiyar, demanded a probe into the funds. It is only a matter of time when Left also hops on to the bandwagon. 

Sharad Pawar backs Lalit Modi in IPL Kochi row

Sharad Pawar on Thursday came out in support of IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, saying there was nothing wrong in making public names of the stakeholders of the Kochi franchise. 

"There in nothing wrong in disclosing the names of the stakeholders to the public," Pawar, former BCCI chief and ICC President-elect, said on Thursday. 

He was asked about Modi revealing the names of the Kochi stakeholders, one of them being Sunanda Pushkar, a close friend of the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor is alleged to have had a hand in Pushkar getting free equity worth 70 crore in IPL Kochi. 

Pawar was asked about questions being raised over transparency in IPL and allegations of underworld and betting syndicates pumping huge amounts in securing franchise. 

"If the IPL Commissioner or BCCI President is asking any information about any bid, they have got every right to ask for the information because unless and until they collect the correct information, they will not realise who are behind this," he said. 

The former BCCI President also supported Shashi Tharoor who helped set up the consortium which bagged the Kochi franchise, saying the minister's "basic interest" was to bring cricket to center stage in Kerala and provide opportunities to players from the state. 

"What my observation is that Tharoor's basic interest was that Kochi should get opportunity in the IPL. He was eager to show to people of Kerala that IPL is also a part of Kerala and wanted to encourage new players from Kerala," Pawar said. 

The Agriculture Minister hoped the IPL governing council meeting later this month will clear the "misunderstandings". 

"I am absolutely clear that when (BCCI President) Shashank Manohar will have this meeting, all misunderstandings will be cleared," he said. 

Pawar also said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had no role in the entire episode. 

"They (Kochi investors) met me once and there was suggestion that Kochi stadium will take a year or two to complete. So in the meantime if they play in Ahmedabad, that will be better. 

"But I advised them 'you have taken the option of Kochi. Please do not shift the place'. Fortunately that time Narendra Modi was in town. These people met Modi also and in my presence Modi told the investors 'Don't insist for Ahmedabad because you got this opportunity for Kochi," he said. 

Pawar said he did not believe Lalit Modi offered the Kochi franchise $50 million to back out. He also questioned the seriousness of the underworld threat that Tharoor is claimed to have received.