Let’s be frank. Over the last three
weeks, we have been all glued to the news of Shashi
Tharoor, Sunanda Pushkar, Lalit Modi and the Indian
Premier League (IPL) scandals. I, for one, have been
reading every story on it in the morning papers;
following it up by scouring the weekly magazines;
talking to those who could be in the know about
juicy details; and engaging in arguments on the
murky and byzantine world of the IPL. Finally I said
to myself, “Even if this isn’t economics, why
shouldn’t I write my two-paisa bit?” So, here goes.
Let’s begin with Tharoor, his lady and the Kochi IPL
bid. None can deny Tharoor's desire to be involved
with a lady from Dubai; nor his earnest longing to
help Kerala get an IPL team. One can, however, fault
him for three things. The first is tactics —
specifically, his over-zealousness in being involved
in almost all aspects of the bid. We know that
ministers and politicians get deeply involved in
many things, often beyond the pale of propriety. But
they do so discreetly. It seems that Tharoor got
involved far too explicitly. This is always
dangerous, but especially so if you are a neophyte
dealing with hardened, politically well connected
wheeler-dealers like Lalit Modi. Second, there is
the issue of Caesar’s wife. You can call it ‘sweat’
equity. But, to the world, a lady very close to you
was slated to get Rs.70 crore in a deal that you
were doing all you could to fructify. Excellent
English mellifluously rendered cannot erase this
stain in people’s minds. The third, is that by
incessantly tweeting to the world, Tharoor had
embarrassed Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh often
enough. This was the last straw.
Now for the wheeling-dealing world of the abrasive
and cocksure Lalit Modi. None can deny that he has
created and sustained an outstanding brand, least of
all his strongest detractor whose team won the IPL
this year. Equally, none can claim Modi to be clean
and gentle. He has known the power of patronage and
money long before the IPL came into being. Ask
anyone in the know about his days at the Rambagh
Palace Hotel in Jaipur as Rajasthan’s chief
intermediator under the rule of Vasundhara Raje.
Modi knows how to collect money, and how to
distribute it to whom and for what favours. Like
many of the land, he has created a network of
patronage and reciprocity; done so with multiple
layers of opacity; and till three weeks ago, had
bought everybody’s silence and acquiescence. Yes,
many were annoyed by Modi’s rough behaviour; but
they were beholden to him. And as far as the real
political biggies were concerned, I reckon that Modi
was not just a facilitator extraordinaire, but
polite and fawning to boot.
All this unravelled with Tharoor. In his unchecked
zeal to oust Kochi and get either Videocon or Adani
in play, Modi embarrassed the Congress high command,
and forced a ministerial resignation while
Parliament was in session. So, he was, and is, being
hit by a ton of bricks. Sharad Pawar and Praful
Patel were weaned away from Modi. My guess is that
it is a quid pro quo: “We know, but we’ll keep
quiet” for “You get away from him, and be a more
cooperative ally in the future”. Findings of tax
raids have been systematically leaked. Rajasthan
chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been talking of
Modi’s shenanigans as the ex-queen’s de facto
chamberlain. People have come of the wood work to
squeal on Modi.
It is not surprising that the bulk of the IPL board
and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
has been braying for Modi’s blood. Regarding the IPL
board, it has been a strange case of self-discovery.
For three years, it did no governance worth name,
and gave Modi a totally free rein. One board member
owned a team; two were commentators apparently paid
$1 million per year; and so on. Today, after Sharad
Pawar has distanced himself, there is free-for-all
competition among all except I.S. Bindra to denounce
Modi and claim that he was a self-serving,
information hiding, money grafting scoundrel of the
highest ilk! Vociferous righteousness has become the
order of the day.
Finally, with a nexus of politicians, shadowy
funders and promoters, round-tripping and exotic
geographies like Mauritius, Channel Islands, Cayman
Islands, Cyprus, Isle of Man, Lichtenstein and
Bermuda, where will it all end? The answer is
nowhere. Modi will be asked to renounce cricket and
keep his tweet tightly shut. Some scapegoats will be
found. A bunch of under-performing office bearers
will run the IPL. Tharoor won’t be back. The news
will die. We will return to the boredom of high GDP
growth. With other sideshows.
For the IPL is India. And we are like that only.
Published: Business World, May 2010