Propriety, integrity, legality al tossed out of the window

RETROFIT

This one is about propriety, ethicality, legality, legitimacy and ofcourse the truth. It also has hefty doses of verbal action, emotion,romance and of course that vital ingredient factional rivalry. All inall the makings of a climactic potboiler. All ready for wear. And onethat media is lapping up excitedly. When the winning bid fromRendezvous for Kochi was confirmed, minister of state for externalaffiars Shashi Tharoor had magnanimously stated that he had given hisblessings to the consortium and, "beyond that, I had no role to play.I understand it's a business decision." But over the weekend a miniexplosion took place with the same weapon of mass destruction thatalmost brought the downfall of Tharoor - tweeting - being used withsurgical precision. Social messaging is obviously a new tool or shouldI call it weapon which has enormous potential. Tharoor or Mr Twittermanaged to survive each and every controversy using this tool, butLalit Modi's tweets may well inflict heavy punishment on him now. TheCongress party has already begun to distance itself from Tharoor,while the BJP is readying to launch an assault against the same man,asking for his resignation. Don't forget that parliament also reopensafter the recess, so expect some more hungama. The last has certainlynot been heard of this matter. What this latest controversy can do isenvelope the entire IPL team ownership structures and perhaps resultin greater transparency. Or maybe that is asking for too much for thelevels of opacity associated with IPL are nothing short of staggering.
But even as Modi versus Tharoor slugfest escalates, there is anothersubset which needs our attention. There are powerful cabals within theBCCI which have been wanting to take Modi down a notch or two. Laaffaire Rendezvous has given them a handle once again. Smooth talkingModi was given an e mail lashing by board president Shashank Manoharwhere he said, "Your making such statements isdetrimental to the interests of the board." According to Manohar theproper forum for underlining ownership structures is the IPL GoverningCouncil platform which Modi very tacitly chose to ignore. He opted fora viral messaging platform instead, throwing into stark relief theimportance of social media like Twitter, facebook, orkut, buzz et al.Manohar now wants to discuss this entire episode at the GoverningCouncil meeting in all probability on April 23.
While Tharoor's bluff has been called in this entire matter due to thecomplicity of his 'wife to be' Sunanda Pushkar who reportedly owns 18to 20 per cent of the free shares in Rendezvous Sports World, itthrows up a larger question of propriety. Sunanda Pushkar's role inthis entire episode is crucial. The fact that she works as salesmanager with Tecom Investments, a member of Dubai Holdings opens up aPandora's box. The Indian Express reported that of the 1,000 sharesallotted to the"free" equity owners, 190 have been awarded to Pushkar; 24 to Gulati,16 to Kotalwar, eight each to Aggarwal and Prasad; 377 to Kishan, 376to Pushpa and 1 to Shailendra Gaikwad. The other shareholders of theteam include: Anchor Earth (27%), Film Waves (12%), Parinee Developers(26%), Anand Shah Developers (8%) and Vivek Venugopal (1%). Modi, inhis Twitter message on April 11, said: "Who are the shareholders ofRendezvous. And why have they been given this 100s of million dollarbonanza." When contacted, Keshav T of Rosy Blue Diamond, which backsFilm Waves, said: "There is a component of sweat equity given toRendezvous as they were the ones who put together the consortium andwill be full-time working partners. " Yes, who are these people? Fromthe time that Rendezvous surfaced with the humongous bid of $333.33million, they have been the cynosure of all eyes. And questions?
The ramifications of Modi's tweets are going to resonate for sometime.Its impact will be felt not just by Tharoor in politics, but onRendezvous's continuity as a team, Modi's clout and influence in thecricket board, but generally speaking its fall out may well hurt otherfranchise owners as they might be pressurised into coming clean ontheir shareholding. Remember that lead investor in Emerging Media,owner of Rajasthan Royals is Suresh Chellaram, Modi's brother in lawor Kings XI Punjab co owner Mohit Burman's brother Gaurav is Modi'sstep son in law. Tharoor, meanwhile is caught in a maelstrom of hisown making. He might be bellicose now, saying that Modi's tweets are"an extraordinary breach of allpropriety" and designed to discredit the franchise. Modi too has beenin the line of Manohar and Srinivasan's fire for his unilateralism. Hehas often been bailed out by Sharad Pawar. Manohar's mail to Modi hasa strident sounding line to it, "The issue, if any, could have beendiscussed at the governing councilmeeting and that action on your part of raising it on Twitter isunbecoming of you as a chairman of the a sub-committee of the board.Your action is in serious breach of the confidentiality clause in theagreement. Till date, you have made public statements about a lot of issueswhich were not even discussed in the meetings of the governing councilwhen it is the governing council which has the authority to takedecisions with regard to each and every issue related to IPL."
But Modi is combative and resilient. He responded to Manohar's letterby saying hisrevelations on Twitter were "in no way a breach of confidentiality".He said the Kochi franchise "had a lot to hide" and as such have liedabout who are the actual owners of the shares. Modi seems to be rightin pulling the plug on Rendezvous, more so because Tharoor reportedlycalled him to prevent him from outing Sunanda's name. Oh yes, thewaters are muddied."I was told not to get into who owns Rendezvous, specially SunandaPushkar. Why?" said Modi. Agencies reported that, "Tharoor had allalong denied having a stake in the Kochi franchise, saying he playedmerely a facilitator's role. In a lengthy rejoinder on Tuesday,Tharoor denied calling Modi and requesting him not to disclose detailsof the RSW stakeholders.
But there is another facet to this fur flying. For instance mediapersonnel got an earful on Tuesday when they assembled outside thehome of retired army officer P.N. Dass, whose daughter Sunanda is atthe centre of the Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) controversy forher reported share of Rs.70 crore. Dass' house in sector 5 of ChanniHimmat locality was the focus of media attention after news reportsabout Sunanda, who has business interests in Dubai, and her purportedlinks with Minister of State forExternal Affairs Shashi Tharoor hit the headlines.
Journalists who gathered for a quote or a soundbite or two weregreeted by abuse from Sunanda's father, Lt Col (retd) Dass. He firsttold camerapersons and reporters to go away. When they continued tohurl questions, he used abusive language. The family had migrated toJammu in 1990 when their house was burnt down by militants in Bommaiin Sopore in the Kashmir Valley. More than 350,000 Kashmiri Panditshad fled the Valley. They hadsought shelter in Jammu, as did Sunanda's family.
Finally, who is this lady in Tharoor's life?
Another media story went like this, "Sunanda Pushkar, who is seen withMinister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor at socialgatherings and is in the thick of the Kochi IPL row, is involved witha construction business in Dubai, andhad been with her parents in Mathura recently. Following a divorce,Pushkar went to Dubai, where she married again. Her second husbanddied in an accident in Delhi. Pushkar, a graduate of GovernmentCollege for Women, Srinagar, has twobrothers, one of whom works for a bank; the other is in the Army. Herfather retired from the Army in 1983."
This one has all the juice. Expect more. And with allegations of Modicooking up this broth to trump Rendezvous's Kochi bid for Ahmedabadgaining currency, be prepared for more dirt. Rendezvous has alreadyreacted by calling Modi a drug peddler...so, watch out many blindcurves ahead.