Modi on confrontation path with BCCI

New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) Under pressure to quit, defiant
Lalit Modi on Wednesday appeared to be on a collision course
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),
questioning the legality of Monday's Governing Council meeting
to decide his fate as the IPL Commissioner.
However, BCCI sources expressed confidence that Modi
would be voted out of the post notwithstanding his defiance
and raising procedural issues.
The government also appeared to be concerned at the
highest level with Prime Minister of India Mammohan Singh
discussing the IPL row with senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla,
a Modi detractor.
Though he refused to disclose what he discussed with the
Prime Minister, he told reporters that the BCCI would not
hesitate to take "drastic" steps, implying the ouster of Modi
to clear the mess.
With indications emerging that Sharad Pawar and other
influential members of the BCCI, including president Shashank
Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan, and IPL vice-chairman
Niranjan Shah said to be gunning for his removal, Modi on
Wednesday sought postponement of the Monday meeting.
Sources said he has questioned the legality of the
meeting on the ground that only he can convene it as the
Commissioner.
He also wanted that the meeting be deferred for him to
prepare himself for answering any issue that could be raised
in the meeting on the raging controversy surrounding the IPL
in the wake of the allegations over the funding and its
sources.
Modi is understood to have conveyed to the BCCI that he
would not be in a position to attend the Monday meeting as he
wanted more time for preparation. There were reports that he
wanted to make public all the details of the ownership pattern
of the eight franchises but BCCI is understood to have put
brakes on his proposal. However, there was no confirmation of
this.
The IPL issue hotted up after Modi's tweet last week
raising questions over the ownership of Kochi IPL franchise
following which Union Minister Shashi Tharoor had to quit. He
was accused of having negotiated with the Kochi franchise to
get sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crores.
Similarly, questions have been raised over the
unsuccessful bids of Videocon and Adani groups for Ahmedabad
and the alleged sweat equity offer made by them to relatives
of a couple of Union Ministers. MORE PTI MRM
AHM


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