Kochi sacks spokesperson after allegations a/g Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Gujarati investors in IPL’s Team Kochi effected a coup on Thursday evening by replacing the top management with their own men. Former Youth Congress chief Satyajit Gaekwad, who had over the past two days emerged as the spokesman of Rendezvous Sports-World , the largest partner of the six member consortium, was, in the process, shown the door hours after he sought to drag Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s name in the controversy over the franchisee.

In what was seen as an attempt to shield Mr Shashi Tharoor, Mr Gaekwad attempted to give the controversy a BJP versus Congress colour by claiming that the Gujarat chief minister had tried to get the Kochi franchise shift its base to Ahmedabad. `Just as he did in the case of Nano, he tried to grab IPL for his state,’’ Mr Gaekwad told reporters.

Mr Modi’s proximity with BJP leader Vasundhara Raje was also cited to drive home his point. `` The inaugural IPL bidding happened when Vasundhara Raje Scindia was Rajasthan’s chief minister. Vasundhara and Narendra Modi may have put pressure on Lalit (Modi) to bring a team to Ahmedabad. There is politics involved,’’ he added. He further alleged a larger political controversy.

But his attempt to introduce a political hue to the controversy obviously did not go down well with the Gujarati investors in the Kochi team who removed him from his post, hours after he made remarks before the media inside the Parliament House complex.

The Kochi team’s IPL bid attracted controversy after it was revealed that Sunanda Pushkar, who has been linked to minister of state for external affairs, was given free equity allegedly worth Rs 70 crore by the team owners. Mr Tharoor — who has maintained his involvement with the Kochi team doesn’t go beyond a mentor status — is now battling allegations of impropriety following the disclosure that his friend received free equity.

In an effort to clear the air, Ms Pushkar broke her silence on Wednesday but only managed to fuel another mini-controversy when she said that she was also approached by the Kolkata Knight Riders during the bidding process. However, Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan tweeted “... we never offered a stake in KKR to anybody ever, including this lady in the midst of Kochi thing.”

In the midst of all this, Mr Tharoor has sought to brazen his way through the controversy saying that he would not resign and that there was no impropriety in his links with the Kochi team. However, calls for his resignation have continued from Opposition parties who have gone to town with the latest controversy surrounding the minister of state external affairs, who has been running from pillar to post trying to explain away his links to the Kochi team.