THE CON IS ON -4

Every kid on the block knows there is much more to the Shashi Tharoor – Lalit Modi war. But the general public does not know how far reaching the ramifications are. I doubt the not so innocent populace of this entity called India will ever know the real picture.

Inspite of the embarrassing controversy the congress party seems to be reluctant to write off Tharoor. WHY?

Some in the Congress party feel Sonia Gandhi could feel indebted to Tharoor for protecting the Congress from Iraq’s 2005 oil – for food fraud. Shashi Tharoor at that time was working with Kofi Anan, whose son Kobi was indicted by Paul Volcker, who probed the fraud. Congress party’s K Natwar Singh was named in the Volcker report and was subsequently shifted from the Foreign Ministry.

Now what is worrying the congress leadership is the possibility of more revelations about Tharoor’s in this murky drama. A UAE angle is also reported to be very much there seeking to link Sheikh Naif a supposed cricket promoter to the Kochi team.

At a time when Shashi Tharoor should be punished the congress big wigs are busy trying to salvage the battering Shashi Tharoors image has taken. Obviously there is more  to it than meets the eye?

I wonder why the congress party is not punishing their party workers and co partners who have failed in the duties assigned to them. Remember the then home minister Patil. Recently the old stalwart of the con party N D Tiwari was in the news for all the wrong reasons – his sleazy video was out cavorting with some prostitutes. Two ministers of the NCP Party which are the partners of the Congress govt in ruling India for more than six years now have failed miserably as agriculture and aviation ministers are still very much there Inspite of rising food prices or efficiently making Air India and Indian Airlines total loosing propositions to the tune of thousands of crores. Don’t you think such people ought to be punished? As a face, saving device at the utmost Tharoor might be shifted to another coveted post.

They never will be for obvious and logical reasons. The parampara of the congress has today become its deep-rooted culture.

There is another angle to this story. It is no secret that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress had viewed IPL as the right platform for promoting the scion of the Gandhi Family and to reach out to the younger voters.Lalit Modi’s pro BJP connections and his refusal to play ball by giving advertisement space to Congress prior to IPL 2 resulted in Congress flexing its muscles and trying to torpedoed IPL last time around. Modi had a Plan B up his sleeves, refused to be cowed down, took IPL 2 to South Africa and left Congress and Rahul Gandhi with mud on their faces.

The income tax raids have become an important weapon of the congress party big wigs to intimidate people who do not conform to their guidelines. No wonder Lalit Modi’s office was raided after all he had dared to take on a minister of the congress party. This tax raid can also serve as a lesson for others not to confront the ruling party members.

Looks like the party and government is arm-twisting Modi now using the Tharoor issue as a cover. It is interesting to note that the focus has shifted from Tharoors impropriety or corruption to IPLs corruption. The accused has become the victim. The accused is no angel helped too. Modi being in the helm and his ability to get things done is of importance to all the rich businesspersons franchisees. They would rather have him at the top than the blundering BCCI idiots. Whatever else he might be, Modi has proved his efficiency in planning and organizing the event 3 years in a row despite many constraints.

It is reported that a top secret 6 page report prepared by the intelligence Bureau in tandem with another intelligence agency RAW is highly critical of Sunanda Pushkar, a would be wife of Tharoor, with details of the money flow trail in the bidding of the IPL franchise. A copy of the report was also handed over to the defense minister A K Antony for good reasons.

Today the congress party can hardly afford any fresh controversy. What ever happened to the Con Party’s austerity drive I wonder? What is Rajiv Shukla’s involvement in the IPL and BCCI? He should be working for the people and his constituency but he is seen more at the cricketing tamashas and page 3 circuits. WHY?

Everyone in Delhi knows Rajiv Shukla is very close to the Gandhi family and Shah Rukh Khan.

As I said earlier there is much more to this murky drama than what we shall ever see or hear. In today’s TOI there is an article clearly implying a legendry former opening batsman and captain of the Indian cricket team who had shown interest in the Kochi Consortium. My guess is he could be Sunil Gavaskar. Shailendra Gaikwad of Kochi C had managed to get Sachin Tendulkar to attend his sisters wedding.

The buck does not stop here-

The case of the mysterious lady who was caught on CCTV leaving Hotel Four Seasons with a stash of files , 30 minutes before income tax sleuths arrived to interrogate  Lalit Modi was none other than Laila Mahmood, step daughter of Vijay Mallya.

Just a few years back Mohammed Azzharuddin was alleged to be in tandem with the betting syndicate and the underworld yet the Congress Party gave him a ticket for elections and made him a Member of Parliament.

I have been hearing about match fixing now for decades right since the times of Sunil Gavaskar and his close relative Madhav Mantri who was then very active off the field.

Today the game of cricket has brought disrepute not only to the cricket players but also to some very prominent people. Thanks to the IPL and the Tharoor – Lalit Modi war the focus has at least for the time being shifted to the rot that lies behind the glamour and glitz of this game of cricket. Talks are doing the rounds of underworld involvement, drug abuse, prostitution, hawala transactions, bribery, counterfeit money as also funds diverted for Islamic terrorism.

I sympathize with the fans of the game for their innocence in investing their time and money on these cricketers and this Con Game. Hope the citizens of India realize whom the Con is On. 

VARON B K SHARMA

www.varonbksharma.com

Author of the fiction ‘Assassination Of George Bush’