Sunanda offers to surrender sweat equity in Kochi IPL team

New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Sunanda Pushkar on day
"voluntarily" offered to surrender her 'sweat equity' worth Rs
70 crore in the Kochi IPL franchise in a last ditch attempt to
relieve the pressure on her friend, Union Minister of India
Shashi Tharoor.
The 48-year-old business executive, based in Dubai,
made the dramatic offer shortly after Tharoor had explained to
Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh his controversial role
in "mentoring" the Kochi franchise.
However, it was said on her behalf she had taken the
decision on Saturday.
Sunanda said she was shocked to find "certain vested
interests" questioning her credentials and because of the
"unpleasant publicity" she was opting out.
In a statement to Rendezvous Sports, Sundanda said,
"as a woman professional, I am shocked to find how easily
certain parties with vested interests, questioned my
credentials mainly because I am a woman. I, therefore,
voluntarily offer to return to Rendezvous the sweat equity
they had offered me.
"I do not intend to seek compensation for the efforts
I have made so far for them. As a mother of a half-Malayali
son, I wish Kerala cricket well and I hope this team succeeds
handsomely in IPL-4 and in the years to come," she said.
The statement, read out to media by her lawyer Ashish
Mehta, said she had been looking forward to "contributing over
the next ten years to building the team's brand, organising
events for it and marketing the team in India and the Gulf in
particular".
"Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my
involvement however, I can no longer imagine being able to
find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL
activity in foreseeable future."
The move comes at a time when Tharoor is facing a
tough time with opposition demanding his sacking from the
government and the Congress party, which has already ordered a
probe to look into his role in the entire controversy,
contemplating future course of action.
Tharoor has denied the charge that he had any
financial stake in the Kochi IPL which had given 19 per cent
(Rs 70 crore) of the 25 per cent free equity of Rendezvous to
Sunanda as she was a professional businesswoman. MORE PTI PYK
AHM


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