No Question of Me Resigning - Lalit Modi

[Tom420]

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The IPL governing council will meet on April 26 and take a unanimous decision on the way ahead from the current controversy, Sharad Pawar, the ICC's president-elect, has said. He was referring to the raft of allegations against Lalit Modi, the IPL's commissioner, and the increasing demands for Modi's removal. If he was non-committal, Modi himself, surfacing after two days in Dubai, displayed his typical swagger by saying there was no question of his resigning.

It is being widely speculated that Modi's role in the IPL will be diminished, if not altogether curtailed, but Modi struck a bullish note after landing in Mumbai. "There is no question of me resigning," he told reporters, "no need for me to step down." He also echoed Pawar, whom he is due to meet over the next 24 hours, saying the governing council would take a unanimous decision. "I will present all the facts against all the allegations. There is nothing to worry about and we will carry on."

Pawar's statement came after a meeting with the BCCI president, Shashank Manohar, in Delhi. Speaking to a scrum of journalists outside his house, Pawar said neither he nor Manohar had the authority to take a unilateral decision on Modi's fate and that it was best left to the governing council. "Our (BCCI) total approach in the Governing Council will be to take collective, unanimous decisions, and give future direction to Indian cricket," he said.

Asked whether Modi would accept the governing council's decision, Pawar said, "Don't forget Mr Modi is also a vice president of the BCCI and our total approach and past experience [is], we always take collective and unanimous decision that everyone is party to, including I hope Lalit Modi."

His statement followed talks with two of the senior-most members of the federal government, which has directed a wide-ranging and coordinated series of investigations of the BCCI, IPL and the franchises that comprise the league.

Removing Modi is not a simple matter for the IPL's governing council or the BCCI, though both have the powers to do so. Modi was appointed to his post by Pawar, when the latter was BCCI president, and any move to remove him would have to go through Pawar, who retains considerable influence in Indian cricket and who has publicly backed Modi.

Pawar is also a senior member of the national government and his Nationalist Congress Party has nine MPs that are crucial to the survival of the ruling coalition. In the intricately linked worlds of cricket and politics, any decision on Modi could well be decided at the highest political levels rather than in the BCCI's boardroom.

For the record, Pawar, when asked to comment on the issue on Tuesday, said: "I am not dealing with this subject. I am not a member of the IPL Committee."

In Parliament, meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor, who resigned as a junior government minister on Sunday over allegations of a conflict of interest by his mentoring of the Kochi franchise, made a statement reiterating his innocence. "My conscience is clear ... I am new to Indian politics but I have a long career in public service unblemished by the slightest taint of financial irregularity," Tharoor said.

Modi's stunning success with the IPL is reflected also in his popularity with the franchise owners, and two of them came out in his defence on Monday. Vijay Mallya, owner of the Royal Bangalore Challengers, said the IPL owed its success to its commissioner.

"Unfortunately, this entire issue has snowballed into an unnecessary storm," he told NDTV. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm full of appreciation for what Lalit Modi has delivered through the IPL. If he has issues with the Government of India, that's his private matter and he needs to deal with it."

Subroto Roy, whose Sahara group won the Pune franchise in last month's auction, echoed Mallya. "One thing is important: Modi has done tremendous work for the IPL and one should note that," Roy said.

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