New Delhi: Hardly had Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel rubbished any role in the unfolding Indian Premier League (IPL) saga of muck, a leading business daily revealed that his personal secretary had sent an email to deposed junior external affairs minister Shashi Tharoor with a document containing projections of new franchisee valuations in IPL.
Emails reportedly seen by Economic Times reporters showed Patel’s personal secretary Champa Bharatwaj forwarding a mail from her official email id to Shashi Tharoor’s personal id, hours after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the same document to the aviation minister’s daughter and IPL hospitality manager Poorna Patel.
While Tharoor had to resign for allegedly influencing gifting of a stake to his Dubai-based “close friend” Sunanda Pushkar by new Kochi IPL franchisee, Patel said he had no role in the IPL.
Patel earlier told NDTV that there is a slander campaign against him and he had no role in the IPL except that his daughter works for IPL like many other young people.
Patel when quizzed by Economic Times however said: ““Shashi and I have been friends and he did ask me whether I could help him with some information in the capacity of a friend, since he was putting together a team from Kochi. I spoke to Lalit (IPL commissioner Lalit Modi) and told him that Shashi wanted some information. Beyond that I don’t know what information has been passed. If I was a bidder, why would I help out a competitor with information?”
According to the ET report, Patel’s secretary sent a mail to Tharoor at 10:06 pm on March 19, two days before the bids were opened and Tharoor-supported Kochi consortium sprang a surprise by making the second-highest bid.
Shashi Tharoor, who was in a spot after Lalit Modi tweeted his role in the gifting of Kochi stake to Sunanda Pushkar, said he offered his resignation only because he did not wish to embarrass the government in any way.
Tharoor quit from his position of Minister of State for External Affairs on Sunday night.
Speaking in Parliament, defending his position, Tharoor said he was hurt by the charges brought against him.
"My conscience is clear and I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Tharoor said he wishes to clear his name that has been tainted by these allegations. "I have asked the Prime Minister to order an inquiry into these allegations," he said.