Shashi Tharoor

Is Lalit Modi Sushma Swaraj’s Achilles heel?

Lalit Modi is in the news once more.

Indian cricket administration’s enfant terrible has snagged yet another victim.

This time, it’s External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

 Sushma Swaraj 

Swaraj finds herself embroiled in a conflict of interest.

The minister championed Lalit Modi’s cause requesting the British government to let Modi to travel to Portugal to visit his ailing wife citing ‘humanitarian‘ grounds.

Whether the minister was in the right is debatable. But she was clearly in the wrong in acting for Modi because her daughter is on Lalit Modi’s legal defense team. So is her husband (Swaraj’s son-in-law).

Shashi Tharoor 

The last time, the UPA was in power, Shashi Tharoor—coincidentally Minister of State for External Affairs—had to resign his seat because of similar conflict of interest allegations. His then wife (now deceased) Sunanda Pushkar was an interested party in the forming of the Kochi Tuskers (now defunct) franchise.

What is it about Indian politicians and conflict of interest situations?

Is it time our politicians were made to undergo an induction training session where a conflict of interest situation is made clear to them?

Are these high-profile names merely the tip of the iceberg and simply anything goes in Indian politics where non-transparency is the norm?

It will be interesting to see how Prime Minister Narendra Modi handles the first real blemish on his government’s record. Will the NDA emulate the UPA and ask Sushma Swaraj to resign? Or will it be simply a case of ‘I dare you to prove otherwise.‘?

IPL franchisees come under ICAI scanner: Big Trouble for Big IPL Money

There’s more trouble brewing for the BCCI’s cash-cow, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The IPL has been mired in controversies over the past year.

The Twitter spat between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor was the spark that triggered a conflagration of sorts; IPL shenanigans were tabled on the floor of Parliament. Media darling, Tharoor, was forced to resign from his position of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Bolshoi—the Boxer— and the IPL (Satire)

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My dog, Bolshoi , the Boxer, is quite peeved with me.

How do I know that?

Well, for one, he keeps giving me these dirty looks, looks that would have you believe that I am going to eat up everything that is laid in his name-plated bowl.

Lalit Modi, Cheerleaders and Bollywood Culture: A Modern Tale (Satire)

I had just stepped out of Bandra station after having climbed up and down the railway bridge. Globus, the retail outlet, were having a huge season-ending sale and I was in a tearing hurry to get there. All I needed was a rickshaw to get me to my destination. It was then that I noticed the ruckus.

A huge crowd was blocking the entrance and exit  to and from the terminus. Cries of ‘Hai! Hai!” and “Down with cultural imperialism” rent the air. There were a few  interspersed “Go Back”s as well.

I was  irritated. “What the hell was going on? Was this my unlucky day?” I thought.

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IPL Round-up: Kochi on verge of going belly up, Kings XI ‘courts’ BCCI

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Is it the end of the road for the Kochi consortium? A Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report would have us believe so.

Vijay Tagore reports that at a meeting held on Friday, the 12th of November, 2010, the franchisee owners agreed to write to the Board Of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) to cancel the team.The letter is to be submitted this Monday or Tuesday. This is a good two weeks before the deadline extended by the BCCI.

(Well, if there’s bad news to be had , you might as well receive it early.)

The irreconcilable differences in the cobbled-together-unit could not stand the scrutiny of day. The members’ sole concern is to recover the money and bank guarantee submitted to the Board.The agreement fee was $10 million (Rs. 45 crore) and the bank guarantee Rs. 153 crore , 10 per cent of the team’s worth.

In this case, it does seem a case of a terrible beginning making for an equally tragic ending.

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IPL: Sunny Gavaskar hits the headlines, Kochi decision on Wednesday

Sunny Gavaskar hits the deadlines once more; this time it is his links with the Kochi franchise that have drawn flak from all quarters.

The Indian batting legend , the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and surpass Don Bradman’s 29 tons, is mulling over an offer from the Gaikwads, the Rendezvous group owners, to handle all matters cricketing.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise and there exists speculation about Gavaskar’s role in the bidding process as a possible conflict of interest ; the master batsman was then on the IPL governing council.

(The  fallout between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor was the result of allegations that Tharoor sought Modi’s interference in the bidding process to ensure that the Kochi group’s bid would be successful.)

Gavaskar is no longer a part of the IPL set-up; he quit the re-constituted governing council citing differences with the BCCI.

Was the conflict of interest a reason for the differences? If yes, why then was just the super accumulator penalised?

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IPL Road: Kochi dilly-dallies, Modi prevaricates

It has been ominously quiet on the IPL front over the past few days.

Except for news reports that the Enforcement Directorate is studying the BCCI filed FIR against the abrasive Lalit Modi, to fructify their case against his willingness (or unwillingness) to respond to their inquiries. There has been little to report in the Indian press or media.

Lalit Modi and his lawyer claim that they have yet to receive a copy of the FIR filed by the BCCI; this is, of course, a classic delaying tactic to fob off the media until they have studied the ramifications and can respond to the allegations in a coherent manner.

The jurisdiction of the Chennai police has been questioned by Modi and his lawyer.

The ED has issued a Look Out notice that will have Mr. Modi detained at all Indian ports if he attempts to enter the country; the IPL ex-honcho shows no inclination to oblige the authorities, preferring to remain in London with token noises about answering any queries via video conference.

Meanwhile, there still seems no resolution to the dispute within the Kochi consortium with the warring parties unable to come to any sort of arrangement as yet.

Rendezvous, who hold the major chunk of sweat equity are at loggerheads with the other co-owners, namely Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Anand Shyam Estates and Vivek Venugopal. Only Filmwave Combines are fine with letting Rendezvous continue in the Kochi consortium with management control.

Rendezvous are willing to buy their sweat equity as long as they retain a say in management matters but doubts are expressed by their partners about the source of their funding and whether the infusion of funds would pass muster with the IT department and ED.

Shashi Tharoor has not been consulted this time around; it is considered best to keep the politician at bay while discussing business matters.

The clock is ticking for the Kochi franchisee and the BCCI must be hoping for a quick resolution, or else it will be a case of even more mud-slinging in the media.

Sunanda Pushkar, now Tharoor’s spouse, has relinquished her stake and is thus no longer a factor in the mediation.

Is this the lull before the storm? Or is it the eye of the storm?

The road to IPL 4 has never seemed more bumpy or more full of obstacles and potholes. Will road rage win the day?

Note: This is an updated version of the earlier article.