Why only Tharoor, probe entire IPL: Lalu

The government should probe the "gambling and betting" business of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad said Monday, a day after Shashi Tharoor quit as minister of state for external affairs over the IPL row.

The government should probe the "gambling and betting" business of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad said Monday, a day after Shashi Tharoor quit as minister of state for external affairs over the IPL row.

HT Image

"Why target Tharoor only? The main culprit is this IPL. This is a gambling and betting business. There are bigwigs involved. The entire network should be probed," Lalu Prasad said in the Lok Sabha, as soon as the house began question hour.

The RJD leader demanded that the government should take over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a private consortium and the apex governing body for cricket in the country.

Lalu Prasad said that the "murky IPL business of shame and glamour" should be stopped forthwith.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav raised the same demand.

"You have removed your minister. It doesn't stop there. Investigate the entire matter to know where the money for the IPL comes from and where it goes," Sharad Yadav said.

The demand comes after embattled Tharoor Sunday night stepped down over his links to the IPL Kochi franchise. He resigned after a weeklong drama as his friend Sunanda Pushkar had received a sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore in the deal. She gave up her stake in the IPL Kochi franchise on Sunday.