Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor today said his party had not left him out in the cold, and “resigning would mean I’ve given up”.
Tharoor said he would convey the details of his relationship with the Kochi Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisee to Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister. “I have done nothing wrong, I stand with my head held high... I’m still reeling...I’ve spent a lifetime in international public life without the slightest taint on my integrity... It’s the one thing I never thought anybody would have any excuse to say against me,” he said in an interview to NDTV.
Tharoor explained that he had wanted to see cricket coming to life in Kerala. “As an elected representative of my state, I said let me try and help get an IPL team to my state. I’ve mentored a group of business people of which I am not a part..and they have participated in a fair and transparent manner.”
Asked about charges of quid pro quo — that he used his ministerial office to lobby for the team that won the bid and that in return, his close friend, Sunanda Pushkar, was rewarded with a gift of Rs 70 crore in equity, Tharoor said: “How on earth can any minister use influence to get an outcome guaranteed from a closed process? I didn’t even know the amount this team was going to pay... there were five bidders after all...no minister can guarantee the numbers of the other bidders. How could I use my ministerial power to guarantee the outcome?”
Referring to Pushkar, he said: “Our media cannot accept an attractive woman as a serious business professional... She is a senior business professional who has worked in brand management.”
