The IPL Commissioner however wants the Governing Council meeting to be held on May 1 Lalit Modi is contemplating to quit as chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but only after he has had his say at the Governing Council meeting. An internecine war broke out in the Indian cricket board as its chief Shashank Manohar and vice-president Modi haggled over the date of the Governing Council meeting, even as income-tax officials continued searches of offices and interrogation of the franchisees in various cities. To make matters worse, Modi has accused his chief and other members of the Governing Council of preventing him from disclosing the stake holdings of all the eight franchisees on the plea that it would lead to "legal complications." "In fact, seven franchise owners had no qualms in making their holdings public, but only a couple of board officials had serious objections," said a board insider who is unhappy over the way the entire drama is being played out through the media. "Things have come to such a pass, none wants to come out in the open and discuss the issue." The franchise owners are upset with the way the whole thing has been handled by the board as well as the government agencies, making it out as if their places were being raided and incriminating doucments were being found. What has irked the franchise owners the most is that some board members are calling them not to go public in support of Modi and are discreetly dropping names to convey the message. Yet, at least one franchisee wanted the owners to head the IPL by rotation in case Modi is eased out. Shashank Manohar suggested that the IPL Governing Council will meet on Monday (April 26) while Modi wants the meeting to be on May 1, saying he needs time to prepare his voluminous defence. A board source insisted that Modi or no Modi, the meeting will be held on Monday while the Modi camp is equally vehement that as the IPL commissioner it is his prerogative to call the Governing Council meeting, not of the board chief. Modi, it seems, sought more time because he would be busy with the IPL semi-finals, third-place match and the final till Sunday and then only he could get down to prepare his side of the story on the charge sheet the board chief is going to hand over to him at the meeting. Modi, who is known to go for any meeting armed with a powerpoint presentation, is believed to have enough ammo to nail his critics, particularly what his supporters say the "turncoats in the board." The all-out war was flagged off as Modi took Manohar to task for not allowing him to release the stake holdings of all franchisees after his tweet on the Kochi holdings invited questions over others. The Modi camp got active on Wednesday after, his suppiorters claimed, his opponents had a free run of what it calls unsubstantiated allegations and leaks from government agencies to malign him. "The whole thing appears to be a major crime story wherein some of the board members have turned approvers," a Modi acolyte said. "Why should Lalit be the fall guy when the entire IPL Governing Council is party to almost all decisions? Some of the board members are now actively colloborating with the government agencies to undermine his contribution in creating such a fabulous cricket property which has helped hundreds and thousands of people," he said. Modi backers say that the holding pattern in all franchisees, including that of the Rajasthan Royals, was in public domain three years ago itself and it was widely discussed in the media. "Badales, Chelarams, Burmans, Srinivasans, Raos and Reddys are the names that are public knowledge for long and none of the franchisees denied their holdings. And yet, it is being made out that the entire thing is coming out only now," said one of them. "Modi has sold the IPL through the media, holding televised news conferences at the drop of a hat, and all auctions were held in public glare with complete transparency. All this is recorded on tapes and nothing is hidden."

The IPL Commissioner however wants the Governing Council meeting to be held on May 1

Lalit Modi plans to quit

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