‘Do I also own Mumbai Indians?’

Union minister Sharad Pawar defended himself on Sunday, saying he was just a shareholder of City Corporation.

He argued that the BCCI rules did not prevent any member or director from buying shares in a franchise.

Pawar cited he had a few shares of Reliance Industries, which won the bid for the Mumbai Indians team. “One can point a finger and say I am one of the owners of Mumbai Indians,” he said.

Pawar said he also had shares of Baramati Grape Wines Company, a subsidiary of Vijay Mallya’s UB Group. “It would be ridiculous to call me the owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore. It is exactly the same with respect to City Corporation,” he said.