The simmering tension between the Congress and the NCP over the IPL controversy came to the fore on Tuesday with Union Minister Praful Patel charging a section of the ruling party of launching a "slanderous campaign" about his involvement in the matter.
"Congress party per se is not involved in the controversy but a section of it is spreading a slanderous campaign against me," Patel, who is also NCP General Secretary, told reporters outside Parliament.
His statement came in the backdrop of reports that two Union Ministers were involved in the IPL, which is under cloud following allegations of betting and money laundering.
"I am happy that government has ordered a probe into it and now truth will come out. I have nothing to do with IPL, this I can assure you," Patel said.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule also sprang to her family's defence on the issue, saying none of her relatives has anything to do with any of the Indian Premier League franchises.
Reacting to reports claiming that a powerful union cabinet minister's son-in-law's name figured in the papers of an industrial group that unsuccessfully bid for a new IPL team, Sule said her family had nothing to do with it.
Reacting to the same newspaper report, Patel said, "I do not have anything to do with cricket, IPL, BCCI or the bidding process and there was no question of holding any kind of stake.
"...My daughter works as a junior intern with the IPL... that's the extent of my involvement (with the IPL)," he said.
When asked about reports that Pawar and he backed the two groups who lost the bids last month for new franchises, Patel denied any association with the Adani Group of Ahmedabad or the Videocon group from Pune.
"Anyway they didn't win the bids... If we were so powerful, they would have got the teams," he said.
Describing Pawar's role in Indian cricket and in the BCCI as "larger than life", Patel said he would welcome an inquiry so that his and his party's name can be cleared. PTI
