Contradictions galore in BCCI-Modi row
Two days ago, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule asserted on T V channels that neither her family and friends have any stake in any IPL teams nor do they have any say in the administration of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Yet, on Saturday morning, Sharad Pawar summoned BCCI officials, including president Shashank Manohar and Secretary N Srinivasan, and some of the IPL franchisees, including Vijay Mallya of Royal Challengers Bangalore, to his Mumbai residence.
If Pawar has no role in the IPL, then what is the reason for this get-together?
Officially, of course, Vijay Mallya claimed that he was summoned by the minister to resolve the problem of grape farmers in Maharashtra who were in a piquant situation as a majority of winery owners in the state had failed to pick up the grapes on the assured price.
Mallya doesn’t seem to realise that grape farmers, unlike normal farmers, especially in Maharashtra are rich and don’t have any problem. So, the UB Group chief’s stance that he came to discuss grape farmers’ problems with Pawar seems out of place.
Meanwhile, Modi has been planting stories in the media of his intent to drag the BCCI to court and questioning the very legality of the IPL governing council meeting called for April 26. He said, he, as IPL commissioner is the sole authority to convene a meeting.
Meanwhile, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, IPL governing council member and former India captain, in an interview said Modi should attend Monday’s meeting and, if necessary, he could be given five days to answer all queries.
Modi suddenly changed his tone, stating that he had no plans to take legal recourse. He made a plea to the BCCI that he be given at least five days to respond to their queries. His line to the BCCI: “I have given my five years to this body, so give at least five days to explain myself.”
What’s more? Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray standard recipe for most problems is to “ban” the thing that caused a problem and that now includes IPL.
However, his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has said: “A ban on IPL and resignation of leaders won’t solve the issue. The need is to dig deep into the matter and unveil the fraud. When Bollywood or politics gets mired in controversies, does one demand a ban on films and politics? That is not a solution.”
Unmindful of all these contradictions, Bollywood hero and Kolkata Knight Riders team owner Shahrukh Khan who threw his weight behind Modi as the teleprompter at the IPL awards function on Friday night indicated in jest, if not seriously, that there should be “a friendly match between IPL & Modi.”
