This Article is From Apr 20, 2010

'No Chance' of quitting, says Modi; He'll defend himself on Monday

'No Chance' of quitting, says Modi; He'll defend himself on Monday
New Delhi: Lalit Modi is preparing for the fight of his life.

Upon returning to Mumbai from Dubai, he told reporters that there is "no chance" of his resigning as Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Instead, he's readying a defense that he will present at the crucial governing council meeting of the IPL on Monday. Modi is aware that he may be asked to step down at this meeting. His presentation to his colleagues will answer the charges against him with this as its premise: Every decision taken by him was approved by the governing council. (Watch: Modi says he won't quit, will answer charges)

In Modi's view, the IPL will not vote him out. And if it does, he will challenge this at a special general meeting. Here, a two-thirds majority will be needed to boot Modi out. The IPL Commissioner says that's not going to happen. (Forum: Can the IPL survive without Lalit Modi's vision?)

But the support for him - at least currently- is not expansive. As the walls start caving in on the high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL), everyone involved seems to ducking for cover.

So after meetings with top Congress leaders on Tuesday, Sharad Pawar has apparently abandoned his protégé, Lalit Modi, and agreed that Modi should step down as the Chairman of the IPL. (Read: Three former captains hold the key to Modi's future)

On Tuesday, Pawar met with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram; he then met with Shashank Manohar, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is the IPl's parent body. After both meetings, Pawar apparently decided that Modi should be removed from the top post, and that Manohar should get a position above Modi's in the IPL.

Pawar till last week was standing by Modi. But now, the Agriculture Minister has been personally grazed by the IPL controversy, one that was unleashed by Modi. There are allegations that Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has an illegitimate relationship with the IPL. (Watch: Sharad Pawar denies IPL involvement) A newspaper article made a thinly-veiled reference to NCP minister Praful Patel, alleging that his relatives are stakeholders in an IPL team. Another alleges that Pawar's son-in-law was part of a group of investors who tried to win one of the two new franchises sold last month; the effort was unsuccessful. (Read: Praful Patel says no link with IPL, cricket).  Both charges are denied by Patel and by Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule.

Equally deafening, reportedly, is the Congress' clamour that Pawar remove Modi as a sort of payback for  Modi's actions which put the  Congress and Shashi Tharoor on the spot.

Last week, Modi opened fire against Shashi Tharoor on twitter. The IPL Chairman alleged that Tharoor lobbied for a consortium that won the Kochi franchise because his girlfriend, Sunanda Pushkar, was being gifted equity worth 70 crores in return. Tharoor was forced to quit over the controversy. Pushkar has voluntarily surrendered her stake. (Read: Shashi Tharoor resigns after Congress says enough) | (Read: It is not Modi vs Tharoor, says Lalit Modi)

If Tharoor had to give up his office because of allegations of impropriety, say Congress sources, then Modi must suffer too. After his accusations against Tharoor, the IPL chairman is being investigated by the government for a diaspora of financial irregularities, all related to the IPL. Among the more serious charges that Modi faces: That he tried to ensure that a group of investors who he preferred would win the two new IPL franchises auctioned last month. Income tax officials tell NDTV on Tuesday that the evidence being scanned against Modi includes several phone conversations and SMs-es.

On Tuesday, Pawar and Manohar reportedly decided that the BCCI will also set up an internal inquiry against Modi. 

But the Finance Minister has already vowed in Parliament that the source of funds of all IPL team-owners will be investigated. (Read: Kochi team's I-T inquiry starts with Gaikwads)

Politicians deny signing on, either directly or through a proxy owner.  Sharad Pawar's daughter, Supriya Sule, said emphatically that neither her husband nor anyone else in her family has any link to the IPL. "I do not owe anyone any explanation. My family has nothing to do financially with the IPL," she said. (Watch)

And despite reports to the contrary, Pawar's party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said on Tuesday that the Modi spectacle is not the latest pressure point in its alliance with the Congress.

NCP leader and Minister Praful Patel said: "Why should Congess-NCP relations be brought into the IPL bidding process. (It has) nothing to do with the two political parties."
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