By IANS,
New Delhi : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule Tuesday said it was unfair to say her father and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had defended only Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi.
Sule, an MP, told news channel CNN-IBN that Pawar defended not just Modi but also Shashi Tharoor, who has resigned as minister of state for external affairs in the wake of the IPL controversy.
“It’s unfair to say that he only defended Lalit Modi …,” she added.
She also said her family had nothing to do with the controversy and that allegations that Civil Aviation Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel was also involved in the IPL franchise business were not true.
“My husband or my family has nothing to do with any of this (IPL bidding process or the IPL itself). We always stay miles away from it,” Sule said. She said the only association her family has is that of being avid cricket watchers.
“I think we are all clear. It doesn’t really matter what people say … because I think at the end of the day your conviction matters,” she said.
As for Patel, she said: “Everybody knows Praful bhai … Praful bhai is one of the most popular and most positive MPs and ministers in this country. He is loved by the entire nation. I see no reason for him to do (it)…It is not even his style.”
The row over the cash-rich IPL erupted after Modi revealed that Tharoor had misused office to benefit his close friend Sunanda Pushkar to get sweat equity in the IPL Kochi franchise.