London [UK], June 4 (ANI): Former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi claimed he received a phone call from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, urging him not to raise questions about his late wife Sunanda Pushkar, after Lalit attempted to block the entry of the Kochi consortium over an alleged fraudulent equity structure involving Pushkar.
In an interview with ANI, Lalit alleged that Tharoor warned him of possible government action if he proceeded. The former IPL Chairman further said he rejected the warning, ended the call, and refused to sign the document or agreement in question.
“I get a call from Shashi Tharoor on the phone. He says, ‘Lalit, don’t ask about Sunanda Pushkar. She is a good friend of mine. I asked why, and he said, If you do, I’ll have you raided in the morning. I said, ‘Screw you. Who the hell do you think you are? You may be the Foreign Minister of India, but don’t you dare ever tell me this.’ I slammed the phone and said I would not sign,” Lalit said.
Lalit claimed the standoff peaked during a late-night meeting in Bengaluru, where he refused to sign the official franchise agreement until the identities of the shadow shareholders were made public.
“I had no idea who Sunanda Pushkar was. I asked the consortium members, ‘Who is she?’ One guy says she’s an automobile dealer’s child, a famous marketing person. I said, ‘Hello, I’m a marketing person in India, and I don’t know who she is,” he added.
According to Lalit, the conflict began because he refused to overlook an allegedly highly skewed financial model presented by the Kochi consortium. The group secured the expansion team with a massive $350 million bid, but structurally, the math pointed to a massive financial collapse.
“All the shareholders were there except for the lady, Sunanda Pushkar. You’re giving away 25% shares to a lady called Sunanda Pushkar. Who is she? You’re giving up 15% of the revenue. Who is she?” Lalit Modi recalled asking consortium members.
“How can somebody pay $350 million for a consortium where 75% of the shareholders are paying 100% of the cost, and someone else is getting 25% free equity?” Lalit Modi questioned.
“For her 10-rupee share, on the day she got the team, it was worth 1 lakh rupees. Their 10-rupee share was worth 1 paisa. I knew this was going to collapse. And what happened? Two years down the line, it did,” he further alleged.
Lalit Modi also claimed he allowed Kochi into the IPL bidding despite Kerala lacking a stadium. “Tharoor sucked up to me at that time to do it. “He’d come to my house. He was a smooth talker without doubt. I fell for it,” he said.
The Kochi franchise was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from the IPL in 2011. The KCPL and RSW-owned Kochi franchise competed in just one IPL season in 2011, ending eighth out of ten teams.
Tharoor resigned as Minister of State for External Affairs in 2010 following the controversy in April 2010. (ANI)
