New Delhi:
After a day of intense attacks and an explanation, Shashi Tharoor's fate still hangs in balance. Top Congress leaders say they cannot comment on what action will be taken yet and any decision will come only once the Prime Minister returns.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be given the report of the ongoing Income Tax inquiry into the IPL fiasco so he may refer to it in arriving at a decision.
The Congress had told Tharoor, who tabled a statement on the Kochi IPL imbroglio, that he would have to defend himself in Parliament - a clear signal that the party wants to maintain its distance from the controversy.
Importantly, Tharoor made his statement as a member of Parliament, not a minister, which would make it easier for the government to dissociate from it if necessary.
The party is believed to be upset with Tharoor's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Jacob Joseph for the manner in which he has handled the media and Tharoor has reportedly been asked to keep him in check. (
Read: Ask your aide to behave, Cong tells Tharoor)
The Opposition too is using the aide to target Tharoor further, asking what Jacob was doing at the recent IPL auction.
Friday was not the best of days for the Junior Foreign Minister.
Shouted down by an Opposition that wants a statement only from the Prime Minister now, Shashi Tharoor read out a personal explanation on the Kochi IPL imbroglio outside Parliament after tabling it in the House.
But not before both Houses of Parliament had been repeatedly adjourned, with a noisy Opposition demanding a full discussion and a statement from the Prime Minister instead. (
Watch) Opposition members stormed the well, in no mood to listen to the minister. They demanded his immediate removal which prompted Speaker Meira Kumar to order Tharoor to lay the statement he was reading out. (
Read&Watch: Tharoor's statement)
The BJP and the Left are demanding that Tharoor be removed as Minister of State for External Affairs because of his link to the IPL Kochi team. The Opposition allowed no work in Parliament on Friday prompting Parliamantary Affairs Minister PK Bansal to angrily ask, "Does the Opposition even want Parliament to function?"
Tharoor's friend, Sunanda Pushkar, reported by some to be a romantic liaison, was gifted equity worth 70 crores by the consortium that bought the Kochi team last month for 1530 crores. Tharoor has been charged with using Pushkar as a front. (
Read: Who is Sunanda Pushkar)
Tharoor sought to clear the air about his role in securing an IPL team for the Kochi franchise, and in the bargain, gave it a political and regional spin. (
Read: I am not a proxy for Tharoor: Sunanda)
"The real motive behind the public controversy that has been created around me is to make the Kochi team unviable and to assign this IPL franchise to elsewhere than Kerala."
Tharoor said he was merely a cricket lover who wanted to see the sport flourish in his state, Kerala, and so "mentored" the Kochi IPL team. "I have neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team," Tharoor said. (
Read: Official statement by Shashi Tharoor on the IPL allegation)
And in an apparent reference to Puskar, he added: "Irrespective of my personal relationships with any of the consortium members, I have not benefitted, and do not intend to benefit, in any way financially from my association with the team now or at a later stage."
Tharoor attacked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, with whom he is involved in a spat over the ownership of the Kochi IPL team, saying, "the game and the benefits accruing from it should not be retained only by an influential coterie with interests in a few privileged centres".
He said it was essential in democracy that institutions of interest to the general public are "run openly, rather than restricting their opportunities to a favoured few".
Tharoor rejected allegations that he had misused his official position. (
Read: Won't resign over IPL controversy: Tharoor to NDTV)
"No misuse of my official position was involved. The issue has nothing to do with my ministry. As a minister, I was in no position to influence the bid process, let alone its outcome," he said.
Shashi Tharoor's statement to Parliament on the IPL controversy was reviewed by his party ahead of his presenting it in Parliament. Congress President Sonia Gandhi also met with other senior party leaders to discuss the Congress strategy on Tharoor. (
Read: IPL Controversy: Tharoor meets Sonia Gandhi)
On Friday morning, Tharoor met with senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee to share the draft of his statement for review.