PM's gag forces Tharoor to cancel press-meet

Former Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor arrived in Thiruvananthapuram constituency for the first time after his resignation from the post.

"I haven't done anything wrong and nobody is going to believe the allegations hurled at me," Tharoor told party workers on his arrival for the first time after his name got entangled in the ongoing Indian Premier League controversy.

"I have used my office and personal influence only for the benefit of my constituency Thiruvananthapuram and the people of Kerala," Tharoor, whose exit came over the IPL Kochi franchise controversy, said.

Tharoor was accused of misusing office for pecuniary gain by the opposition after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that his friend Sunanda Pushkar had sweat equity stakes of Rs 70 crore in Rendezvous Sports World, heading the consortium that owns the Kochi team.

The charge was denied both by Tharoor and Sunanda who later returned her share and quit the franchise. As Tharoor arrived at the airport in Thiruvanthapruam, Congress workers in expression of solidarity gave him a rousing reception.

However, Communist Party of India's youth outfit All India Youth Foundation, held a black-flag demonstration outside the airport demanding the resignation of Tharoor as the Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram.

Tharoor, however, cancelled his press meet organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club at 4 pm on Saturday. Highly placed sources in his camp told rediff.com that the former minister was given a stringent communication from the Prime Minister's Office not to speak to the media.

The wide publicity given to the 'meet the press programme' has had its pitfall as Shashi Tharoor hurriedly cancelled the programme by stating that he had to attend to the high level UDF meeting at Kochi where the defense minister A K Antony was participating.

In his electoral debut, the former United Nations diplomat won from Thiruvananthapuram Parliament seat last year defeating his CPI rival by a margin of one lakh votes. Security was tightened in the airport in view of the protest organised by AIYF workers who were later removed by the police.

With inputs from PTI