Ruling out the possibility of union ministers Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel resigning in the wake of the IPL controversy, the Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday dismissed reports about the involvement of any of its leaders or their relatives in any financial wrongdoings in the cricket league.
Party spokesman D P Tripathi saw nothing wrong in Civil Aviation Minister Patel's 'personal office' forwarding projections of new franchisee valuations to Tharoor before the Kochi team won the bid.
On Sadanand Sule, son-in-law of Pawar and husband of NCP MP Supriya Sule, reportedly holding 10 per cent stake in Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony Entertainment Television), which has also been raided by Income Tax officials, the spokesman said, "He does not own a share in the company."
Sadanand Sule has been associated with Sony Television even before IPL was conceptualised, he added.
"No political party has made such a demand. There is no basis for it. There is no question," NCP spokesman D P Tripathi said in reply to a query on whether the two leaders will follow the example of Shashi Tharoor.
The former minister of state for external affairs had resigned over allegations of his involvement in the consortium that owns the IPL's Kochi team.
Tripathi said there was no question of double standards being adopted by the NCP.
"NCP has its own standards," he said when asked whether NCP ministers will follow the example of Tharoor resigning from the government.
"We stand by the decision of the prime minister in the case of Tharoor," he said.
Patel himself declined to comment on the issue when media persons confronted him in Parliament on reports that his personal secretary had forwarded the e-mail to Tharoor two days before the IPL bids were opened in the second round of auctioning last month.
Tripathi said there was no financial involvement of anybody from the party in the IPL.
"The NCP challenges any individual, any agency anywhere to come forward with evidence of involvement of our members in the IPL," he said.
Asked whether Congress was gunning for Pawar, he said: "I don't think Congress is doing that. We are not bothered. Sharad Pawar and the party are strong enough to face the situation.
"There is no issue with the Congress party. We are together in the government. And there is no issue between us and the Congress party."
About Patel's daughter Poorna Patel working in IPL and forwarding a message to her father, which was on passed to Tharoor, Tripathi sought to make light of the issue saying, "It is not a classified or confidential matter. It was a business plan. Poona sent IPL CEO's e-mail to Patel's secretary.
"There is nothing. Record is straight. E-mail coming here and going there... it was sent from the personal office (of the minister)."
Asked whether Pawar was so "naive" that he did not understand the goings on in the IPL, he shot back, "You cannot talk through insinuations. He is not in the IPL."
Tripathi said the IPL Governing Council was the right forum to discuss all the allegations and counter-allegations and hoped that it would taken decisions by consensus.
Asked about the meeting between Pawar and Congress heavyweights Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram on Tuesday, he said: "The meeting did not discuss cricket. They discussed availability of wheat".
To a question on the need for this press conference, he said as a political party the NCP was duty bound to explain to the people what was being talked about was not correct.
