Even as the top brass of the Indian cricket board huddled together to chart out their strategy for Monday's governing council meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a defiant IPL chairman Lalit Modi said on Saturday he will not quit
Even as the top brass of the Indian cricket board huddled together to chart out their strategy for Monday's governing council meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a defiant IPL chairman Lalit Modi said on Saturday he will not quit. 
Modi has asked for time to present his case
Hectic discussions were on in Mumbai right through the day, with messengers and messages running to and fro to find an amicable solution to the crisis triggered off in the wake of Kochi winning the bid for one of the two new franchisees at the auction on March 21.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Shashank Manohar was closeted with BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, IPL vice chairman Niranjan Shah and Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty on the strategy to be adopted at Monday's council meeting.
Most of the other council members are expected to reach Mumbai either on Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Manohar is no mood to give the extra five days time that Modi has sought from the board to prepare his case. Even his predecessor and union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar was unable to presuade him to relent.
Modi finally broke his silence over the matter saying he will not quit despite people "pressurising me to resign."
Modi, in the eye of a storm following his comments on the Kochi franchise which resulted in the resignation of junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, said he is not a quitter and that the truth will soon appear.
"People pressurising me to resign -- I can tell you, (it) will not happen. Let them remove me then," Modi tweeted. "What we have done has been there for all of you to see for the past 4 years. No one can take that away."u00a0
"I am not the type to quit. Have faith. Did not create this to just walk away -- because xyz says what they feel like."
"Truth will prevail soon. Trial by media and no chance to present the facts is like the wild west. Wait and the facts will be delivered," he said.
"Media putting stories without verification, goes to show how media can misuse their power. Don't get influenced by all these baseless stories."
A Modi sympathiser in the cricket board said all that Modi wants is a few more days to prepare his defence as the list of charges is spiralling at an alarming speed.
Modi has asked for time till May 1 to reply to the questions raised by the governing council members and government agencies. The council members fear that Modi might do a Tharoor by presenting his case before the media if he is not allowed to do so in the council.
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