PM on Tharoor row: Politics has ups and downs
By IANSSaturday, April 17, 2010
ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday chose to tread carefully on the Indian Premier League (IPL) row involving Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
“Politics has its ups and downs,” is all that the prime minister said on board his special aircraft when asked about his take on Tharoor’s alleged links with the Kochi IPL franchise.
Tharoor had Friday clarified that he had not misused his official position and his “mentoring” the Kerala consortium of the Kochi IPL franchise was within the “bounds of appropriate conduct” as an MP from Thiruvananthapuram.
Tharoor tabled the statement in the Lok Sabha after opposition members created a ruckus over the row, alleging that the minister had misused his official position to help his friend Sunanda Pushkar get sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise.
The Congress leadership is apparently not satisfied with the minister’s explanation as he did not say anything about his friend Sunanda Pushkar’s share in the Kochi IPL franchise, a party source said.
According to party officials, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has handed over the issue to the prime minister.
