UGLY CONTROVERSY raises its head!
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is in a fresh controversy around the Kochi IPL team he “helped” set up that has pitted him and its owners against IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.
Modi has not only publicly disclosed the names of some of the owners of the consortium that bought the franchisee for $333 million but has also alleged that he was told by Tharoor not to ask who these shareholders were.
This startling claim assumes significance since at the heart of the controversy is the reported 19% stake owned by Sunanda Pushkar in the 25% free equity owned by Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd, the company that led the consortium that finally won the team. The value of Pushkar’s stake is $15.82 million (about Rs 70 crore).
Pushkar is known to be close to Tharoor who, in fact, has been seen introducing her in social circles as his “fiancée.” Currently married — and in the process of separation — Tharoor had earlier said he only offered encouragement, blessings and expert advice to the Kochi bidders.
Neutral observers say the episode is a clash between two groups of “very clever people”. “The conflict of interest in Lalit Modi’s case is clear: His son-in-law has been given web advertising rights and his brother-in-law has a team. And, in Shashi Tharoor’s case, the woman whom he is going to marry has been given free equity worth Rs 75 crore today but it could be worth Rs 500 crore a few years from now. And, when you look at it, the minister of state in charge of the Middle East also has 100 per cent of his business in the Middle East: does that sound like propriety?” asked a member of the BCCI governing council.
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Probably the most detailed and "CLEAR" discussion of the subject is to be found HERE
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