It was a cricket match in Delhi that set tongues wagging on the twitter Minister and his close friend Sunanda Pushkar. That was more than a month before the current IPL controversy

The picture that started it all

It was a cricket match in Delhi that set tongues wagging on the twitter Minister and his close friend Sunanda Pushkar. That was more than a month before the current IPL controversy

Even the ongoing IPL series has been seemingly overshadowed by the saga. That's the magic of Shashi Tharoor. On March 7, the minister and his close friend Sunanda Pushkar were spotted together for the first time at a public event in the capital during a friendly match between the MEA and FICCI.

All ears: Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor with close
friend Sunanda Pushkar during a friendly cricket match in New Delhi.
pic/Subhash Barolia

MiD DAY was there to capture the couple sharing a few intimate moments during the tea break.
The match was played at Modern School, Barakhamba Road and lasted for more than three hours. Tharoor was the captain of his side and like a true hero he won the game by hitting a four. The match was initially supposed to be a 20-20 but after the MEA won the game another 10-over match was played.

On the same day Tharoor made the following three tweets:
Tweet 1: MEA beat the titans of industry, FICCI, in a 25-over match, then again in a 10-over match. My bowling was the stimulus pkg for the businessmen
Tweet 2: But I did manage a couple of wickets in the 2 games, 7 not out in our first victory (incl a four) & 15 (with two fours) in the second. Grt fun
Tweet 3: FICCI President Rajan Bharti Mittal batted well, tonked me for a boundary. I didn't deserve my Best Bowler award but it will look good on mantel.

It was a few days after this match that rumours of Tharoor dating Pushkar gained momentum. There had been some gossip in the past, the couple had attended a few cabinet dinners and notably Congress minister Jitin Prasada's wedding, but these pictures lent substance to the speculations. The body language of the duo, the fact that the minister chose to ignore almost everyone else and spent most of his off-field hours with Pushkar, that he prepared tea for her during the break all this was fodder for controversy.

'I've had enough' Says Tharoor in his latest tweet
Controversy's child Tharoor came under the spotlight after the question on the IPL Kochi bid debacle came to light. A war of words between Tharoor and Modi has been on Twitter ever since.

Modi disclosed the names of the free equity holders of the Kochi team. On Twitter, he wrote, "Rendezvous free equity held by Kisan, Shailender and Pushpa Gaikwad, Sunanda Pushkar, Puja Gulathi, Jayant Kotalwar, Vishnu Prasad, Sundip Agarwal."

After Modi disclosed the names of the free equity holders, Modi hinted that there was pressure on him by Tharoor not to reveal the details of who all owns Rendezvous. "I was told not to get into who owns Rendezvous, specially Sunanda Pushkar. Why?"

Modi's tweets could land Tharoor in a soup as he had initially tweeted, "I am NOT part of the bid but was pleased to give Rendezvous Sports World my encouragement & blessings. My interest is in transforming Kerala IPL"

However, when it was alleged that he had a hand to play in the entire bid, he tweeted, "Rendezvous includes a number of people, including many I have never met, and Sunanda Pushkar, whom I know well,"

All about Sunanda
Sunanda Pushkar, who's in her 40s, runs a spa in Dubai. She also holds an executive's post with an infrastructure company owned by the Emirate government. She has also worked with advertising firms, a travel agency in Dubai as well as with an IT firm in Toronto.
Pushkar, whose stake in the Kochi IPL team is valued at an estimated Rs 70 crore, belongs to a family from Bomai, 8 km from Sopore in the Kashmir Valley.
Pushkar's father P N Dass is a retired Lt Col. The family migrated to Jammu in 1990 after militants torched their home in the Valley.
Pushkar, a graduate of Government College for Women, Srinagar, has two brothers, one of whom works for a bank; the other is in the Army. Her father retired from the Army in 1983.
Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor were seen together two months ago at Congress minister, Jitin Prasada's wedding party.
Sunanda got media's attention when her name came up as owner of IPL Kochi team. Sunanda Pushkar is part of a consortium Rendezvous Sports Pvt. Ltd. which owns 25% of the Indian IPL Kochi team. Out of this, 18% belongs to Sunanda.

Earlier marriages
Pushkar's first husband was a Kashmiri man who worked for a hotel in Delhi. Following a divorce, Pushkar went to Dubai, where she married again. Her second husband died in an accident in Delhi.

Paparazzi get a dose from Sunanda's father
Media personnel got an earful when they assembled outside the home of retired army officer P N Dass, Sunanda Pushkar's father.
Dass's house in Sector 5 of Channi Himmat locality was the focus of media attention after news reports about Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor hit the headlines.
Journalists who gathered for a quote or a soundbite or two were greeted by abuse from Lt Col (retd) Dass. He first told camerapersons and reporters to go away. When they continued to hurl questions, he used abusive language.

The controversy so far
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, no stranger to Twitter himself, has claimed in posts that he was asked not to question the owners of Rendezvous Sports World, a partner in the group that has a 25 per cent stake in the Kochi IPL franchise.
Of this 25 per cent, 18 per cent (that is nearly Rs 70 crore) is believed to have been handed to Sunanda for free and the balance divided among three other Rendezvous members.

Modi on Twitter
This is what Lalit Modi (LalitKModi on Twitter) disclosed through a series of tweets on April 11:
Tweet 1: A lot of you asking shareholders and events surrounding the Kochi team. I am compiling a note shortly and will put an official release soon.
Tweet 2: 25% of Kochi team is given free to Rendezvous Sports for life. The same equity is non dilutable in perpetuity. What does that mean?
Tweet 3: Who are the shareholders of Rendezvous. And why have they been given this 100s of million dollar bonanza?
Tweet 4: Kochi shareholders are: Rendezvous 25% free, Rendezvous 1%, Anchor 27%, Parinee 26%, Film waves combine 12%, Anand Shyam 8%,Vivek Venugopal 1%
Tweet 5: Rendezvous free equity held by Kisan, Shailender & Pushpa Gaikwad, Sunanda Pushkar, Puja Gulathi, Jayant Kotalwar, Vishnu Prasad, Sundip Agarwal
Tweet 6: (On being asked if Shashi Tharoor owns a stake in the team) I was told by him not to get into who owns Rendezvous. Specially Sunanda Pushkar. Why? The same has been minuted in my records.