‘Gujarat CM behind Lalit Modi’s anti-Kochi drive’

Kochi franchise spokesman Satyajit Gaikwad today brought Narendra Modi in the line of fire,saying the whole world knew about his nexus with Lalit Modi and he put pressure on the IPL Commissioner to bring a team to Ahmedabad.

“We were told that we won’t be allowed to work. The Adani group and Narendra Modi had a stake in the Ahmedabad IPL bid. After we won the bid,our investors spoke to (former BCCI chief) Sharad Pawar and asked him which city to choose. He said ‘you can take your pick’,so we decided to take Kochi,” the franchise’ Gaekwad told reporters here.

“The inaugural IPL bidding happened when Vasundhra Raje Scindia was Rajasthan’s Chief minister. Vasundhra and Narendra Modi may have put pressure on Lalit (Modi) to bring a team to Ahmedabad. There is politics involved,” he added.

The Gujarat government rebutted the allegations,saying they were baseless and Chief Minister Modi had nothing to do with the controversy. State Home Minister Amit Shah told reporters that some promoters had met the Chief Minister but that meeting does not decide the bidding process where the highest quote becomes successful. Gujarat will welcome any team for holding matchesin the state,he said.

But Gaikwad was supported in his attack on Modi by former Gujarat Cricket Association chief Narhari Amin who said both the Modis were pushing for Ahmedabad. Gaikwad also demanded that Lalit Modi disclose the ownership details of all the IPL teams now that he has revealed the details of the Kochi team.

“I ask the government to reveal the ownership details of other IPL teams under the corporate law. Government should investigate. We are clean and we have nothing to hide”,he said.

Meanwhile,Tharoor had a second meeting with Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony in Parliament House. Asked whether he will be making any statement in Parliament on the issue,Tharoor said that nobody has so far directed him to do so. At the same time,he indicated that he is open to it.

He,however steered clear of questions on whether the meeting was to finalise the draft of the statement he may make as also if he is meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi or if he has sought any appointment from her in this regard.

Tharoor,who was closeted in a meeting with the two leaders for close to 30 minutes today,had also met them last night. The two leaders had met Gandhi yesterday. Opposition parties have demanded Tharoor’s resignation in the wake of the controversy. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said that government should investigate the matter and the minister should step down immediately.

Tharoor strongly denied allegations that he had misused his office for any personal gains or for securing any gains to his friend Pushkar. Commenting on the controversy,Sports Minister M S Gill said “it is just not cricket”. “Accountability should be there. Democracy applies everywhere. Democracy is like a sunflower which seeks sunshine. Therefore all institutions should work accordingly,” he said.

Guj govt refutes allegations against Narendra Modi

Chief Minister Narendra Modi today sought to distance himself from the IPL controversy with a state minister describing as baseless allegations that Modi had put pressure on IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi to bring a new team to Ahmedabad.

Earlier in the day,former Congress MP from Vadodara Satyajit Gaekwad,who is a spokesperson of Kochi franchise,had alleged that IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is targeting the new team under pressure from Narendra Modi,who is also president of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA).

“GCA or its president (Modi) has nothing to do with the entire controversy. Allegations levelled against us are baseless,” Shah who is also vice-president of GCA told reporters here. “Franchise was awarded to the team following the open bidding process and in that no cricketing association or GCA has any role to play,” he said refuting the allegations levelled by Gaekwad.

“These allegations were levelled not by promoters of the Kochi team but by political persons,and cricket should be above politics,” Shah said. To a question whether a meeting was held between Lalit Modi,one of the bidders for Ahmedabad team Gautam Adani and Narendra Modi before the bidding process started in Ahmedabad,Shah said,”I am not aware of any such meeting. Such meetings have no meaning as far as open bid system is concerned.”

In reply to another question on whether GCA had backed Adani group in bidding for Ahmedabad IPL team,the Gujarat minister said IPL auction is entirely based on open bidding system where backing is not required. To a question whether Gujarati promoters of Kochi team had met the chief minister and offered to shift base to Ahmedabad,Shah said he was not aware of any such meeting.