Shashi Tharoor, who was forced to quit his ministerial position on Sunday, is determined to clarify his position on the issue by exercising his right to make a statement in the Lok Sabha despite the efforts of senior Congress leaders to dissuade him.
The party, in no mood to rub Sharad Pawar the wrong way beyond a point, is wary of what Tharoor will say.
Reliable sources in the government told DNA that there is no thought of scrapping the IPL or superseding the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) either.
The government is fully aware of the wafer thin majority it has in the Lok Sabha. In fact, it is happy that Sharad Pawar will take over as the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s declaration that all aspects of the IPL would be probed is not aimed at the BCCI or even the IPL, the sources said.
It is a different matter that the finance ministry gave a jolt to Pawar in November 2009 when it withdrew all tax exemptions enjoyed by the BCCI for decades as a charitable trust.
BCCI is fighting tooth and nail with the government to get these benefits restored. Though the cricket board had paid part of the demand, it challenged the order in the I-T Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai. I-T authorities had raised a demand of Rs117.50 crore.
The BCCI has not paid any advance tax this year and the IPL is also bogged down in several service tax and other issues.
Senior Congress leader and BCCI spokesman Rajiv Shukla on Monday had a long meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Shukla refused to divulge what transpired but it is learnt it had more to do with apprising the prime minister of goings on in the BCCI and IPL rather than Congress politics.
