Amid mounting pressure on Union Minister Sharad Pawar over the IPL bid controversy, Congress on Saturday persisted with its bystander act, suggesting that the NCP leader should do all the explaining on the issue.
"The issue involves BCCI, Pawar and the inquiry going into the IPL. If there are any facts give it to it (inquiry). Congress has nothing to comment. You should ask these questions to Pawar," AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.
In reply to a volley of questions by reporters, Singhvi signalled that it was for Pawar to fend for himself in the wake of BCCI chief Shashank Manohar's statement that the IPL Governing Council did not know that Aniruddha Deshpande of the City Corporation bid in his individual capacity for the Pune IPL team.
Pawar, who is also former BCCI chief, and his Parliamentarian daughter Supriya Sule have been embroiled in the controversy over the bid for the Pune IPL team, which was won by Sahara group, after it came to light that the Pawar family had a 16 per cent equity in City Corporation.
But Pawar claimed that its MD Aniruddha Deshpande bid for the Pune team on his own and the company's Board was against the move even though it allowed him to use the company's name on bid documents. AICC Secretary Mohan Prakash reacted in a similar vein saying that it was "unnecessary" for the party to react as Pawar and his party NCP were "competent" to comment.
Asked about BJP's demand for Pawar's resignation, Prakash said that the BJP should be patient till the truth comes out in the inquiry. Accusing the opposition party of not being interested in reaching to the truth, he said that when the BJP was in power in Rajasthan over a year ago, it was "close" to suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. PTI
