Lalit says Jaitley exercises full control over BCCI, IPL

 

Alleges nothing moves without the Minister’s say-so.

New Delhi, 22 June 2015: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi launched a frontal attack on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday, saying nothing moved in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the Indian Premier League (IPL) without the Minister’s say-so.

 

Mr. Modi is at the centre of a storm over the help he got from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, though he is facing an Enforcement Directorate investigation into cases of foreign exchange violations while he ran the second season of the Indian Premier League in South Africa.

 

His comments came a day after Mr. Jaitley, who is on an official trip to Washington, said that a transaction of Rs. 11 crore between Mr. Modi and Ms. Raje’s son, Dushyant Singh, was a “commercial” one.

 

In a series of tweets in the evening, Mr. Modi alleged that Mr. Jaitley had control over the BCCI for decades and had continued to stick by his “oldest friend” — former Board president N. Srinivasan — even after the media and the court found him guilty.

 

He referred to an interview given to a television channel by former cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad in which he said that Mr. Jaitley, along with other powerful BCCI members like NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla and Mr. Srinivasan, should share responsibility for the foreign exchange violations during IPL Season 2.

 

Govt. draws up three-pronged strategy

By Smita Gupta

The Union government is mulling over a damage-control plan to try and change the current Lalit Modi controversy-driven narrative before the commencement of the monsoon session of Parliament in July. The strategy, party insiders say, has three elements that the ruling dispensation hopes will wipe the slate clean, close the fault lines within the BJP and effectively stem the Opposition onslaught against it.

 

Top developments:

1 Mr. Modi alleged that Mr. Jaitley had control over the BCCI for decades and had continued to stick by his “oldest friend” — former Board president N. Srinivasan — even after the media and the court found him guilty.

 

2 A report in the Sunday Times said Mr. Modi had used the names of Prince of Wales Charles and Duke of York Prince Andrew in support of his claim for a travel permit.

 

3 Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria admitted that he had met Mr. Modi in London last year, but clarified that he had asked him to return to Mumbai and lodge a case in connection with underworld threats to his life. 

 

4 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked Mr. Maria to “provide information officially to the government as to what he has said in the media”.

 

5 Mr. Modi had dismissed allegations levelled against him in the controversy, saying that he was being targeted as part of a political conspiracy aimed at destabilising the Narendra Modi government.

 

6 Mr. Modi’s counsel Mehmood Abdi accused former UPA Ministers Salman Khursheed, P. Chidambaram and Shashi Tharoor of being behind the current controversy.

 

7 BJP MP Kirti Azad, hinting at a feud within the party on Twitter, referred to a party insider playing a role in leaking information about Ms. Swaraj’s recommendation and her family’s association with Mr. Modi.

 

8 The U.K. said it will not probe into the allegations against Labour party MP Keith Vaz. The Commissioner for Standards examined a complaint of conflict-of-interest and dismissed it for lack of sufficient evidence.

 

9 The Union government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came out in full support of Ms. Swaraj. Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said the recommendation was made on “humanitarian” and not “moral” grounds.

 

10 Ms. Swaraj defended her decision to recommend travel documents for former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi, after taking a "humanitarian view" and asserted that she asked the British government to examine his request and follow the rules.