‘Don’t speak on Sunanda otherwise I will get you raided’, did Shashi Tharoor threaten Lalit Modi?

Indian Premier League (IPL) founder and former commissioner Lalit Modi has made a sensational allegation against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in a recent interview. Lalit Modi has said that Shashi Tharoor had threatened him with a raid after raising questions on Sunanda Pushkar in the case of Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) entry in IPL. Lalit Modi had tried to block the entry of the Kochi consortium over an alleged fraudulent equity structure involving Sunanda Pushkar. He has claimed that after this Shashi Tharoor called him and told him not to ask much about Sunanda Pushkar. She is my good friend. If you don’t listen to me, I will get you raided.

KKT team participated in the 2011 season of IPL. The franchise was owned by Kochi Cricket Private Limited, a consortium consisting of several companies. The journey of this franchise in IPL could last for barely one year. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had terminated it for not giving the bank guarantee on time. Lalit Modi was also expelled from BCCI due to dispute with the owners of KTK.

Lalit Modi has claimed that despite KTK not having a stadium, he had allowed this franchise to enter the IPL system only on the insistence of Shashi Tharoor. He said in an interview to news agency ANI that he had come under target of the franchise owners for exposing the truth.

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Shashi Tharoor had Sonia Gandhi’s support – Shashi Tharoor

Lalit Modi had inquired about Sunanda Pushkar’s sweat equity in the Kochi franchise. He was told that Sunanda Pushkar is a woman doing business in Gulf countries. After this he did not want to sign the agreement but was forced to do so at the request of the then BCCI President Shashank Manohar.

Lalit Modi said on Kochi Tuskers controversy, ‘Sonia Gandhi was supporting Shashi Tharoor. In those days I used to get calls from Ahmed Patel and Pranab Mukherjee. A person like Rajiv Shukla used to come to me and say, come on, Ahmed Patel is coming. How can one pay $350 million for a team like Kochi Consortium, where 75% of the shareholders are paying the entire cost? He would have got 15% of every dollar of revenue… I knew it would all fail… After two years, it failed… I didn’t sign the deal because I wanted to meet every member of the consortium.’

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Lalit Modi agreed on the request of BCCI President

Lalit Modi said, ‘The meeting took place in Bengaluru. All the shareholders were present except a woman named Sunanda Pushkar. I was looking at this agreement, and by the way, I had no idea who he was… I was asking these consortium members. You are giving 25% shares to a woman named Sunanda Pushkar. Who is he?… I said I won’t go. I will not sign this agreement until I know who Sunanda Pushkar is. As soon as I said this, Shashi Tharoor called… He said, Lalit, don’t ask about Sunanda Pushkar. She is my good friend. He said, if you ask, I will get a raid done at your place in the morning.

Lalit Modi further explains, ‘I said, who do you think yourself? You may be a minister but don’t you dare tell me that. I slammed the phone and said I would not sign it. There was an uproar. It was two o’clock in the morning. Then I got a call, you can confirm this. This call was from BCCI President Shashank Manohar, who never interfered. He was a very good person. He said Lalit you will sign this agreement today… Now I never oppose authority… I told him that I am signing this agreement under duress and I will bring out the fact that the Chairman is forcing me to sign this agreement… Next day, I woke up in the morning, it was on the front page of every newspaper – Sunanda Pushkar’s marriage to Shashi Tharoor. Now I understand why I had to sign it.

KTK entered IPL because of Shashi Tharoor?

Lalit Modi has said in an interview to news agency ANI, ‘No one asked this question that how did I allow Kochi to bid in the system? Kochi did not even have a stadium. So why did I allow Kochi into the system? Why did I open it for Shashi Tharoor, because at that time he flattered me… He took me out. He came to my house. That was enough and I fell into their trap. There is no doubt that he is an expert in sweet talking… The mistake I made was that I revealed the truth. Because I could not see the IPL franchise being ruined. I could see the future and whatever I predicted came true.’