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The Tharoor-Modi spat Union Minister Shashi Tharoor at Parliament House on Thursday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
The other Modi angle?
SC rejects plea for urgent hearing
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On sticky wicket, it’s tough going for Rendezvous
Modi quizzed by I-T officials
Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy greets Mani Shankar Aiyar in Parliament. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
Non-Manipuris told to leave state
Protests over bid to tap uranium
Telugu novel ‘Draupadi’ sparks row
2 held for BSP leader’s murder
Bomb found on train
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Tharoor meets Sonia, may get a time out
Anita Katyal Our Political Correspondent
New Delhi, April 15 The beleaguered minister’s 20-minute meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi this evening indicated that he will not be asked to step down immediately and will first be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations being levelled against him in the form of a personal explanation in the Parliament. The BJP has given a notice for a discussion on this subject for tomorrow. However, if it becomes difficult for the government to defend the allegations of corruption against the junior minister, the ruling combine could well sacrifice Tharoor on the issue of probity in public life. The minister has been accused of misusing his authority to help his friend Sunanda Pushkar to get 'free' equity of the value of Rs 70 crore in the Kochi franchisee. Tharoor has denied these allegations. “His case is very similar to that of the former Home Minister. The government and the party defended and protected him till it became impossible to do so. I do not think we have reached that point yet in case of Tharoor,” remarked a senior UPA minister. Tharoor’s immediate reprieve is also linked to latest allegations that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi have joined hands to take the Kochi franchisee to Gujarat. Tharoor is learnt to have clarified his position in his meeting with Sonia, his first interaction with the party chief since this controversy surfaced. Earlier in the day, he had a 30-minute meeting with Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony in the Parliament House. The junior minister had also met them yesterday where he had explained his side of the story. Officially, the government and the party are only saying that a final call will be taken on the issue when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his overseas trip on April 17. The PM had already said in Washington that he would ascertain all facts before taking any action in the matter. “Let all facts come out, then the party will react,” party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said today, echoing the PM’s statement. While the government is not in any rush to indict Tharoor, the Congress is getting tired of defending the minister each time he gets into trouble, which has been happening quite often.
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The other Modi angle?
IPL’s Kochi franchise on Thursday alleged that Lalit Modi is targeting the new team under pressure from the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. “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,” said IPL Kochi franchise spokesperson Satyajit Gaekwad while taking to reporters here.
“The inaugural IPL bidding happened when Vasundhra Raje Scindia was Rajasthan’s CM. Vasundhra and Narendra Modi may have put pressure on Lalit (Modi) to bring a team to Ahmedabad. There is politics involved,” Gaekwad added.
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SC rejects plea for urgent hearing
New Delhi, April 15 The petitioner, a lawyer, withdrew his PIL following the refusal by a Bench headed by Justice SH Kapadia. According to the PIL, Tharoor had misused his official position to help his friend, Sunanda Pushkar, get free of cost 19 per cent of the stakes valued at Rs 70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchisee. Denying that he had any stake in the franchisee, Tharoor has clarified that he merely played a facilitator's role in the auction which went in favour of Rendezvous Sports World (RSW). Sunanda is a partner in RSW.
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On sticky wicket, it’s tough going for Rendezvous
New Delhi, April 15 Rendezvous, which bought the Kochi IPL team for a staggering amount of Rs 1,533 crore with the key promoters being Gujaratis, now realise that they have to incur expenses to remain as the Kochi franchisee as the state government, ruled by a Marxist Party-led coalition, is not extending a helping hand for them to get out of the messy situation they are in now. The detractors of Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, including the communists, have closed ranks to bay for his blood. Tharoor, who is an MP from Thiruvanathapuram, seems to have got little support from the state since his twitter war of words with IPL boss Lalit Modi hit national headlines. Other than a few Youth Congress workers burning an effigy of Lalit Modi in the state capital, and the backing of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), Tharoor has received no open support from any quarter. Some Congress leaders even learnt to have helped fan the anti-Tharoor campaign due to political jealousy. KCA president TC Mathews echoed the sentiments expressed by Tharoor and his aides that “some people are making a deliberate attempt to sabotage the Kochi IPL team”. Mathews, who is also a key figure in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) executive committee, was, however, confident that the Board would resolve the issue in a meeting to be held on April 24. “The BCCI is capable of taking a logical and correct decision,” he said. Mathews gave full credit to Tharoor, who played the role of a mentor, for securing the IPL team for Kochi. “Because of him we have got an IPL team, which will be good for the cricket players of the state”, he added. It is learnt that the BCCI core team, comprising president Sashant Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley and others, who would be in Dharmashala tomorrow for the Kings XI Punjab vs Deccan Chargers IPL match, are expected to finalise the strategy to make Modi come out with the full details of all the franchisees, and not just the Kochi team. The BCCI Governing body will meet in Mubai on April 23 and the IPL Governing Council meeting is likely to be held a day later. Sources close to Rendezvous also feel that when the enforcement authorities probe the funding of the teams, skeletons will tumble out of many of the IPL fanchisees’ closets. Though the first eight IPL franchisees bought their teams for amounts varying from Rs 300 to 430 crores, Rendevous and Pune franchisee Sahara Adventure Sports Group paid a combined sum of Rs 3,200 crore, with Sahara alone accounting for Rs 1,667 crore. Sources said the logistics involved in running the IPL teams are so complex and costly that only big corporates can manage their teams professionally.
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Modi quizzed by I-T officials
Mumbai, April 15 Modi was first quizzed for over an hour from 7.15 pm at Nirlon House in the Worli area where his offices are located. A second team of I-T officials questioned him thereafter. Sources said the I-T team’s visit was part of a “source probe” that had been initiated by the Revenue Department. Modi said the I-T team’s visit was only an inquiry and not a raid and assured that the IPL would “fully cooperate” in the inquiry. The I-T department has reportedly created a cell in Mumbai to keep tabs on the income of the IPL.
— PTI
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Antony, Akhtar, Aiyar take oath in RS
New Delhi, April 15 Sports Minister MS Gill and former Union Minister for state Ashwani Kumar of the Congress along side Naresh Gujral of the SAD have been re-elected to the upper house from Punjab. Former Union Chemicals Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa returned to the Parliament today after a gap of one year. He had lost the May 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Sangrur to Congress’ Vijay Inder Singla before being elected to the upper house. BJP’s Avinash Rai Khanna, a former Lok Sabha MP from Hoshiarpur, who could not contest the last Lok Sbaha polls, also took oath in the Rajya Sabha. Both, Dhindsa and Khanna are new members to the upper house. Former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar also took oath as a nominated member in presence of Chairman Hamid Ansari. Aiyar took oath in Tamil. Other nominated members who took oath included Javed Akhtar, Bhalchandra Mungekar and Ram Dayal Munda. Welcoming the members, Chairman Hamid Ansari said: “We look forward to them for their valuable contribution in making the functioning of the Parliamentary Democracy more effective and enhancing the dignity and prestige of the august House.'' Defence Minister AK Antony (Kerala) and Silvius Condpan (Assam) have also been re-elected. The new members who took oath included Bimla Kashyap Sood (Himachal Pradesh) Naznin Faruque (Assam), KN Balagopal and TN Seema (both Kerala), Jharna Das Baidya (Tripura), and Naresh Chandra Agarwal (UP).
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Non-Manipuris told to leave state
Guwahati, April 15 Under the banner of Hindustani Samaj, Manipur, non-Manipuris hailing from rest of the country has sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister in this regard and has also requested for protection of Manipuri people and students residing in other parts of the country. The RPF and PLA have issued a quit notice asking all the non-Manipuris who had come to Manipur after 1949 to leave the state by May 31 next. RPF, which is suspected to have Moist links, said it had not taken the stand for the safety and welfare of the non-Manipuris as the Government nor the RPF could protect the non-Manipuris. “So, it would be best for all non-Manipuri --- Nepalis and people from Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana etc to leave Manipur,” the outfit stated. The militant groups have asked transporters not to bring in non-Manipuris and directed local people not to rent out houses or sell land to non-Manipuris who should not be allowed to head business houses in Manipur. The memorandum informed that recently 32 non-Manipuris had been killed in cold blood while in some areas, these elements visited the houses of non-Manipuris and threatened them to leave creating panic among non-Manipuris.
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Protests over bid to tap uranium Guwahati, April 15 A source said the NBWL had, at its meeting in New Delhi on April 12 last, decided to conduct a site inspection by one of its standing committee members along with state forest department officials at Balpakram National Park in South Garo hills district of Meghalaya in view of the DAE’s proposal. Any non-forest activity like exploratory drilling inside a national park would need the approval of the NBWL.The Rongcheng Plateau in Balpakram National Park has been identified as a site for high grade, large tonnage uranium deposits. In fact, the total uranium ore deposit in Khasi and Garo hill areas of Meghalaya is estimated to be 9.2 million tonne and is of immense importance if the country is to achieve the target of 20,000 MW nuclear energy by 2020. Meanwhile, the Khasi Students Union (KSU), which has been spearheading the anti-uranium mining campaign in Meghalaya, has taken strong exception to reports that now the government has turned its eyes to uranium deposit in Balpakram National Park in Garo Hills areas in the state.
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Telugu novel ‘Draupadi’ sparks row
Hyderabad, April 15 However, the fictional account of the life and times of Draupadi has angered traditionalists and right wing Hindu organisations who demanded a ban on the book. The critics say the novel projected the wife of Pandava kings as a “sex maniac”. “By choosing this novel for the prestigious award, the government has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus who venerate Draupadi. It has no literary value,” said Dr Hanuman Choudhary, a former chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited who now heads a culturalorganisation “Pragna Bharathi ‘. The novel contains several steamy passages describing Draupadi’s amorous encounters with Pandavas and her secret desires. What has particularly irked the critics is the suggestion that Draupadi was romantically linked to Lord Krishna. “Under the pretext of literary work, this novel contains repulsive descriptions of Draupadi’s anatomy. She is also shown as a Sakhi or a girlfriend of Lord Krishna. It is also written that Draupadi secretly longs for the company of Karna,” Dr Choudhary said. His organisation has filed a petition before Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission. However, the author is unfazed by criticism. “I have only attempted to elevate the character of Draupadi, who is like a mother. There was no mischievous intent to belittle the mythological character, or religious sentiments of any community,” said Dr Lakshmi Prasad.
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2 held for BSP leader’s murder
Lucknow, April 15 According to DGP Karamvir Singh, Hanuman Sharan Shukla, a zila panchayat member, was a history-sheeter having more than 24 cases, including murder cases, registered against him at the Tabarganj police station in Gonda. The two accused arrested for the murder, Prem Narain Pandey and Monu Mishra, had some family feud with Shukla that led to their shooting him from close range on the dais yesterday, causing his death on way to the hospital.
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Bomb found on train
Lucknow, April 15 According to sources, Kausala Devi, a passenger of coach number S 2, notices a small packet with blinking lights in the toilet soon after she boarded the train at Bundelkhand. She alerted the train staff that in turn evacuated the coach and called the bomb-disposal squad. The police said the bomb fitted with wires was probably being smuggled into New Delhi where security is being tightened in view of the Commonwealth Games in October. DGP Karmveer Singh said the bomb weighed around 1.5 kg and was reasonably sophisticated.
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The UPA government appears to have adopted a calibrated approach on the controversy engulfing Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor regarding his involvement with the ownership of the IPL Kochi franchisee, which has resulted in the Opposition demand that he should be sacked.
