New Delhi: The IPL controversy will not
cloud its ties with NCP as there is a "Chinese wall" between
cricket and politics, the Congress said today.
It also made it clear that the law will take its own
course if there was any violation of rules regarding the IPL.
"There is a Chinese wall between what is happening in the
field of cricket and ...that in politics," Congress spokesman
Manish Tewari told reporters here.
His remark was aimed at putting at rest reports that the
row would cast its shadow on Centre as also in Maharashtra,
Goa and Meghalaya where the two parties share power.
The AICC statement is significant as it came a day after
the simmering tension between the two parties over the
controversy came to the fore with Union Minister Praful Patel
charging a section of the ruling party of launching a
"slanderous campaign" about his involvement in the matter.
Remarks of Patel, who is Deputy leader of NCP in the Lok
Sabha, came against the backdrop of reports that two Union
Ministers were involved in the IPL, which is under cloud
following allegations of betting and money laundering.
Tewari also had a dig at NCP by saying that the Congress
was more concerned about BPL (Below Poverty Line) than IPL
(Indian Premier League).
Replying to questions on the issue, he said an inquiry is
underway and if it yields something "incriminating", it was
obvious that law will take its own course.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of
anonymity, claimed the IPL controversy will actually lead to
the NCP`s ties with Congress getting more strengthened.
BJP is seeking to fish in troubled waters with a senior
leader, who asked not to be named, saying that the party`s
strategy was only to target the Congress as Sharad Pawar`s
party has eight members in the Lok Sabha and numbers will
count when opposition moves a cut motion to the Finance Bill.
Meanwhile, Tewari said the Shashi Tharoor issue was a
closed chapter following the resignation of the Minister of
state for External Affairs.
-PTI
