IPL governing council meet to discuss Modi`s fate

Zeecric Bureau New Delhi: In a bid to clip Lalit Modi’s wings, IPL governing council (IGC) would meet on April 23 to discuss the role of the IPL commissioner in the Kochi franchisee row.

Talking exclusively to Zee News, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, who is also a member of IPL governing council, said that IGC would meet on April 23. However, conflicting reports claim that the IPL governing council is scheduled to meet on April 25.

Abdullah said Lalit Modi had to come clean on the stakes held by his relatives. Asked whether he would want Modi to be removed from the post in the light of his public spat with Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, Dr Abdullah said: “No, I would not be in favour of it. But I would want the BCCI president also to exert a dominant power.”

Abdullah’s confirmation came after BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla informed on Saturday that the governing council, which met informally on Friday in Dharamshala, would meet after the IPL gets over.

It seems that the anti-Modi lobby of BCCI led by Dr Abdullah got the date of IPL governing council meeting advanced by two days. Earlier in the day, speaking about the last night meeting of BCCI official at Dharamshala, Shukla said, "There was no meeting, we had just gone to watch the match. A formal meeting of the governing council will be held after the IPL."

The source indicated that Modi`s powers as commissioner would be most probably curbed when the IPL governing council meets either on April 23 or on April 25.

Modi`s detractors in the BCCI are pressing for his head as they feel he has brought the IPL under media glare for all the wrong reasons but as of now, it appears that he would continue in the post till his term ends in 2012.

"As of now it seems he will remain in the post but definitely his powers would be curbed and he will not be allowed to take decisions unilaterally," the source said.

Besides Lalit Modi and IS Bindra, the 14-member governing council has former cricketers Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi as well as politicians and BCCI office bearers such as Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla, Farooq Abdullah, Shashank Manohar, Niranjan Shah, MP Pandove, Chirayu Amin, Sanjay Jagdale and Niranjan Shah. After Modi`s public spat with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on the matter turned into a political storm and an income tax nightmare for the IPL, the Board officials held an informal conclave in the picturesque hill-town of Dharamshala. It assumes importance as it was the first meeting among the BCCI bigwigs after Modi`s tweets on the identity of Kochi stakeholders triggered off the furore. Significantly Modi, who wields considerable power as the Indian Premier League chairman and commissioner, was kept out of the deliberation where the key members of the Governing Council generally assessed the fallout of the controversy and the Income Tax raids at IPL offices. Keeping Modi out of the meeting is being seen as a snub to the high-flying IPL Commissioner. Many of the IPL Governing Council members were unanimous in the view that Modi should be downsized while some of his known detractors in the Board even pressed for his removal as Commissioner. "It was an informal meeting where the governing council members discussed the issue. We are trying to get the views of as many members as possible. No decision has been taken yet and we will continue to have meetings," a BCCI source said.