The murky exposé in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday saw top politicians and family members going into a denial mode.
Mumbai became the epicentre as early in the day, Purna Patel, daughter of civil aviation minister Praful Patel, landed at the office of state chief minister Ashok Chavan.
Sources close to Patel clarified that the meeting was not related to the IPL row.
When asked, the chief minister’s office, which had kept the meeting secret, said: “All we can say is that Chavan is not at all linked with any cricket association. So the question of IPL is ruled out.”
However, as the semi-finals begin from Wednesday culminating into the finals on April 25, sources indicated the chief minister will definitely have to oversee the state’s preparedness in maintaining tight security for the IPL matches. Not withstanding the strains between the Congress and NCP following the IPL expose, late on Tuesday night, Chavan attended the dinner hosted by deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal (of NCP) at the latter’s residence, Ramtek, at Malabar Hills.
Elected members of Congress and NCP also attended the dinner. The IPL controversy also figured at the ongoing budget session of the state assembly. The echoes of denials made in Delhi triggered a heated debate in Mumbai.
Earlier in Delhi, the NCP president and former Board of Control for Cricket of India (BCCI) chief Sharad Pawar denied his role in the IPL developments.
This clearly set the stage for the BCCI to take decisions related to IPL chief Lalit Modi through consensus.
His daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule sprung a surprise as she emphatically stated, “Nobody from my family or relatives have any stake in IPL.” Her clarification comes in the backdrop of speculations of high-profile politician’s son-in-law (read Sadanand Sule) as one of the members in a team that did not qualify in the bid. Later, Sule himself sent out a strong denial about his role in the IPL.
Next to follow the denial course was Praful Patel. In a straight talk he said, “I would like to make it clear that I have no role in the IPL.” In Mumbai, Bhujbal parroted the same theme arguing, “I have not made any investments in the IPL.” Earlier, his critics alleged that Bhujbal had rented his educational trust for IPL office briefly. Bhujbal has rejected the charge.
