New Delhi:
Shashi Tharoor spent twenty minutes with Sonia Gandhi on Thursday evening, discussing, sources say, his link to the Indian Premier League (IPL) team from Kochi that has led to the Opposition demanding that he be sacked.
The BJP plans to raise the issue in Parliament on Friday and wants a full discussion on it.
Sources say the fact that Gandhi agreed to meet Tharoor was undoubtedly a matter of relief for the Junior Minister whose party has maintained a distinct distance from him since the IPL controversy erupted.
Tharoor began his day with a quick call on senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony at Parliament before it reconvened after recess.
On record, the Congress has said that the party will discuss the allegations of corruption against Tharoor only after the Prime Minister returns from his trip to the US and Brazil.
But sources tell NDTV that Tharoor has been told that while the party will not ask him to resign over the issue, he will have to fend for himself in Parliament when the BJP raises the issue.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV on Wednesday night, Tharoor said there was no question of him resigning. Tharoor denied that his party has not left him out in the cold, and added that "resigning would mean I've given up."
Tharoor is at the centre of a controversy over the IPL team that was sold to Kochi last month for Rs 1,530 crores. A close associate of Tharoor's, Sunanda Pushkar, was gifted equity allegedly worth 70 crores by the team-owners. This was revealed by Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner, in tweets on Monday. (Read: Who is Sunanda Pushkar | I am not a proxy for Tharoor: Sunanda)
Modi has also alleged that the ownership of the Kochi Team is unclear, and that the team, in cooperation with Tharoor, tried to prevent him from discovering the stakeholders. (Read: Modi stands by his allegations)
The consortium that owns the team, however, counter-alleges that Modi offered them a 50 million dollar bribe to abandon their bid after they had won the Kochi franchise. Modi denies this charge.
On Thursday, the spokesperson for the Kochi consortium for the first time said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had joined forces with Lalit Modi to ask them to abandon their team. Narendra Modi is the President of the Gujarat Chief Association (GCA). In Gujarat, officials of the GCA said this was completely incorrect. (Read: Narendra Modi has no role in IPL fiasco, says Gaekwad)
The Kochi team-owners claim that the two Modis wanted to drive the franchise to Ahmedabad instead.
But that version is slightly different from what those close to another politician say. Union Minister Sharad Pawar doubles up as President of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Sources in his camp say that four members of the consortium approached him after they won the Kochi bid. One of them, Harshad Mehta, asked Pawar to help shift the Kochi team's base to Ahmedabad. Mehta said the group wanted this because Kochi would not have an IPL-standard stadium for at least four to five years. The group's concern was that if it moved to another small city, like Gwalior or Indore, ticket sales would not be as strong as in a city like Ahmedabad.
Pawar allegedly them he could not get involved in the matter. He advised them to talk to Narendra and Lalit Modi. (Read: Now, Pawar play in Kochi IPL story) Pawar then allegedly told Tharoor on the phone that he had not intervened in the matter, and Tharoor expressed his gratitude.
The BJP plans to raise the issue in Parliament on Friday and wants a full discussion on it.
Sources say the fact that Gandhi agreed to meet Tharoor was undoubtedly a matter of relief for the Junior Minister whose party has maintained a distinct distance from him since the IPL controversy erupted.
Tharoor began his day with a quick call on senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony at Parliament before it reconvened after recess.
On record, the Congress has said that the party will discuss the allegations of corruption against Tharoor only after the Prime Minister returns from his trip to the US and Brazil.
But sources tell NDTV that Tharoor has been told that while the party will not ask him to resign over the issue, he will have to fend for himself in Parliament when the BJP raises the issue.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV on Wednesday night, Tharoor said there was no question of him resigning. Tharoor denied that his party has not left him out in the cold, and added that "resigning would mean I've given up."
Tharoor is at the centre of a controversy over the IPL team that was sold to Kochi last month for Rs 1,530 crores. A close associate of Tharoor's, Sunanda Pushkar, was gifted equity allegedly worth 70 crores by the team-owners. This was revealed by Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner, in tweets on Monday. (Read: Who is Sunanda Pushkar | I am not a proxy for Tharoor: Sunanda)
Modi has also alleged that the ownership of the Kochi Team is unclear, and that the team, in cooperation with Tharoor, tried to prevent him from discovering the stakeholders. (Read: Modi stands by his allegations)
The consortium that owns the team, however, counter-alleges that Modi offered them a 50 million dollar bribe to abandon their bid after they had won the Kochi franchise. Modi denies this charge.
On Thursday, the spokesperson for the Kochi consortium for the first time said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had joined forces with Lalit Modi to ask them to abandon their team. Narendra Modi is the President of the Gujarat Chief Association (GCA). In Gujarat, officials of the GCA said this was completely incorrect. (Read: Narendra Modi has no role in IPL fiasco, says Gaekwad)
The Kochi team-owners claim that the two Modis wanted to drive the franchise to Ahmedabad instead.
But that version is slightly different from what those close to another politician say. Union Minister Sharad Pawar doubles up as President of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Sources in his camp say that four members of the consortium approached him after they won the Kochi bid. One of them, Harshad Mehta, asked Pawar to help shift the Kochi team's base to Ahmedabad. Mehta said the group wanted this because Kochi would not have an IPL-standard stadium for at least four to five years. The group's concern was that if it moved to another small city, like Gwalior or Indore, ticket sales would not be as strong as in a city like Ahmedabad.
Pawar allegedly them he could not get involved in the matter. He advised them to talk to Narendra and Lalit Modi. (Read: Now, Pawar play in Kochi IPL story) Pawar then allegedly told Tharoor on the phone that he had not intervened in the matter, and Tharoor expressed his gratitude.
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