Parliament adjourned till 2 p.m. over Tharoor- IPL Kochi controversy
By ANIFriday, April 16, 2010
NEW DELHI - Proceedings in Parliament were adjourned for a second time on Friday till 2 p.m. after Opposition members did not allow Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor to present his defense on the IPL-Kochi controversy.
Tharoor was drowned out by a noisy Opposition, which said it wanted a statement from the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, instead. Tharoor then tabled the statement.
The BJP and the Left have been demanding that Tharoor be removed as Minister of State for External Affairs due to his link to the IPL Kochi Team.
Earlier, Speaker Meira Kumar tried to let Question Hour continue as Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was replying to questions. However, lawmakers continued with their protests, forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till noon.
The BJP, had on Thursday, reacted to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s statements that he would not go by unconfirmed reports and take appropriate action against Tharoor only after checking all the facts, saying there should be no delay in any action against Tharoor as the matter was now out in the public.
On Wednesday, Tharoor ruled out chances of him resigning from the Union Cabinet over the IPL issue, saying that he had done nothing wrong, nor had he misused his office.
Dr. Singh had indicated in Washington that he would take action on the issue if warranted after his return from Brazil, where he attended the fourth IBSA summit and the BRIC summit.
Tharoor is reportedly in trouble after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi tweeted that Sunanda Pushkar, a close associate of Tharoor, had been gifted sweat equity worth rupees 70 crores in the new Kochi team, which was sold for 1530 crore rupees last month.
Modi in his email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Shashank Manohar had stated it was Tharoor, who called him and instructed him not to reveal the identities of the stakeholders of the Kochi IPL franchisee.
Tharoor, however, has denied putting pressure on Modi. (ANI)
