London [UK], June 4 : Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, questioning why he remains a constant target of the leader's speeches and parliamentary interventions. Lalit asserted that despite the rhetoric, no legal case has been proven against him in the last 17 years.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Lalit Modi challenged the authorities to take him to court, claiming that the lack of legal action over nearly two decades is proof of his innocence.
"Arrest you want to do, you have to take me to court. 17 years you haven't taken me to court. How can you arrest me today? If there was something there, it would be out... anything that I have done, or could have done, in the 17 years would have already been cleared. That is why there is no case against me," Lalit said.
When questioned about his frequent mentions in political rallies, specifically by the Congress leadership, Lalit Modi took a direct swipe at Rahul Gandhi.
"Every time you look at Parliament or you look at the speeches of Mr Rahul Gandhi, he always attacks me. Every time there's an election, he attacks me. Every time there's some issue that comes up, I'm being attacked. Why am I being attacked by the Congress government?" he asked.
Responding to the observation that Rahul Gandhi also frequently targets business tycoons such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, Lalit claimed his situation is different because of his association with cricket, which carries a higher public sentiment.
"They [Ambani and Adani] don't sell newspapers. They don't sell news. I sell news. Okay? Because cricket is so big. Cricket has become so big. Cricket has put me in the limelight, which is unlike Mr Adani and Mr Ambani, who are good friends of mine," he stated.
Lalit Modi claimed that he does not fear the legal system but is wary of political vendettas. He alleged that individuals with political "clout" and personal "axes to grind" are responsible for stirring up controversy against him.
"I'm not afraid of the law. What I'm afraid about is that you have some people... they're political. Whether they sit in the opposition or they sit anywhere else, they have an axe against me. And they also have a lot of clout. So they stirred up..," he added.
Lalit Modi further detailed the high-stakes political drama behind shifting the 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL) to South Africa. He alleged that the then-Home Minister P. Chidambaram "threatened" him and deliberately blocked the tournament in Congress-ruled states.
Speaking to ANI, Lalit Modi claimed that while he was initially "friendly with every government," the situation soured when the Congress-led UPA government refused to provide security for the tournament, citing the 2009 General Elections.
"Mr Chidambaram threatened me and didn't want me to do it. I didn't want to move it [IPL to South Africa]. At that point in time, it was the BJP government states who gave permission for me to hold the matches... because the Congress government said they would not give permission in Congress states," Modi said.
Lalit Modi claimed that he faced an administrative nightmare, stating that his team was forced to show extreme flexibility to accommodate the government's demands before finally moving the event to South Africa.
"We changed the schedule 154 times before I moved to South Africa. And then, finally, the diktat came from Mr Chidambaram. He was the Home Minister then. He was all-powerful," Lalit Modi added.