New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned from his eight-day trip to the United States of America and Brazil on Saturday afternoon amid a raging political storm over Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Though the Prime Minister evaded a direct answer when asked about Tharoor, he is expected to speak to him (Tharoor) later on Saturday afternoon.
"Politics mein utaar chadhao hotey rehtein hain (there are always ups and downs in politics," Singh replied when asked about the controversy surrounding Tharoor.
Singh is also likely to hold a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and senior Congress leaders on Saturday evening to discuss Tharoor's alleged role in the Indian Premier League Kochi franchisee.
But Congress sources have indicated that action is likely against Tharoor. They says Tharoor should have resigned on his own following his public slugfest with IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.
Sources say the Congress committee investigating the role of Throor has found prima facie evidence of impropriety in the IPL Kochi deal. The Congress leadership is also not convinced by Tharoor's explanations that he just helped his state Kerala to get an IPL team and that no monetary or personal interest were involved.
However, Tharoor has been claiming that he was not involved in any financial deal with the Kochi franchisee and had no intention of benefiting in any way from the IPL. When the issue rocked Parliament on Friday, Tharoor said that his involvement with the Kochi franchisee was only because the team belonged to Kerala.
Tharoor on Saturday also thanked "new India" on the microblogging site Twitter for the support and good wishes. "Sorry for long silence, been overwhelmed..... Thanks for all the support & good wishes. U (you) folks are the new India. "We will 'be the change' we wish to see in our country. But not w'out (without) pain!."
The slugfest between Tharoor and Modi started after the IPL Commissioner tweeted over the ownership structure of Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) on April 13 which floated Kochi franchisee.
Modi disclosed the names of the free equity holders in the little known RSW which coughed up approximately Rs 1533 crore to bag the Kochi franchise, a move which put Tharoor in a spot of bother as Sunanda Pushkar, the lady whom he is reportedly planning to marry, figured in the list.
Sunanda has reportedly got sweat equity worth at Rs 70 crore in the Kochi IPL franchisee.
Modi also alleged that Tharoor had called him and asked not to reveal the identities of the Kochi franchisee members, including Sunanda.
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