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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Lalit Modi steps up offensive
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Lalit Modi steps up offensive

Lalit Modi posted documents, running into thousands of pages, on his website

A file photo of Lalit Modi. Photo: AFP Premium
A file photo of Lalit Modi. Photo: AFP

New Delhi: Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi on Monday posted documents, running into thousands of pages, on his website. These documents mainly related to charges levelled against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In one reply to an ED notice, as reported by The Indian Express, Modi stated: “The allegations reflect collective responsibilities rather than personal responsibilities."

The newspaper reports that the documents had one common theme: ED should seek answers from top BCCI office-bearers of the time, primarily secretary N. Srinivasan and treasurer MP Pandove, for charges related to financial transactions conducted by the cricket board from 2008 to 2010. Read more

Modi also took to Twitter again to step up his offensive against several senior leaders, including finance minister Arun Jaitley, calling him a “Congressman at heart" for his proximity to the Nehru-Gandhis. Threatening a “big expose’’, Modi said, “This is true crores of rupees in BCCI books for members TA/DA. Best part is they take this in cash. Hope Arun Jaitley, Anurag Thakur and Rajiv Shukla have shown this in their returns... Media, ED and income tax must ask Taj Hotels to provide data of all politicians who have stayed with them (sic).’’ Read more

Modi also tweeted a list of 29 individuals, including Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra, who were suggested by Congress member Rajiv Shukla as invitees for IPL’s 2012 opening ceremony. The list includes almost all important ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), apart from several bureaucrats, public sector unit chiefs, corporate honchos and even Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians. Among those named are then home minister P. Chidambaram, whom Lalit Modi has accused of hounding him.

Reports indicate that the list also includes Congress member Ahmed Patel, then HRD minister Kapil Sibal, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and BJP MPs L.K. Advani and Yashwant Sinha. It also includes corporate heads such as Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, Gautam Singhania of Raymonds and Star India CEO Uday Shankar.

Meanwhile, The Economic Times reported that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh appears to have intervened and cautioned the BJP against removing Vasundhara Raje as Rajasthan’s chief minister as it can destabilise the state government. Modi had dragged her name into the controversy surrounding his immigration plea.

Raje got support from Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari who met her in Jaipur on Monday. “The whole party is behind her," said Gadkari, “she has done nothing illegal." His statement breaks with the BJP’s somewhat muted defence of Raje so far. Read more

However, reports continue to emerge on the financial links between Modi and Raje’s son Dushyant Singh. Documents accessed by NDTV raise new questions about the business deals between Singh and Modi. In papers submitted to the corporate affairs ministry, Singh said he sold 815 shares in his company to Modi while separate documents submitted by Modi said he bought 965 shares in the firm. Find the details here.

The Congress alleged on Monday that Jaitley was trying to influence the ED after the finance minister made statements from the US, describing Modi’s investments in Singh’s company as “commercial transactions".

“It is a clear-cut cover-up. We charge the finance minister with influencing the ED probe in Raje’s son Dushyant Singh and Lalit Modi’s case," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, while addressing a joint press conference with former Union minister Jairam Ramesh. Read more

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Published: 23 Jun 2015, 10:43 AM IST
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