P. Mukherjee set ED during his Finance Minister after me: Said Lalit Modi

MUMBAI: Lalit Modi has claimed that while Pranab Mukherjee was a finance minister in during UPA government in 2010— ordered an ED probe into his IPL business deals and personal financial transactions. He says this was in retaliation to his role in Shashi Tharoor ' s sacking as Union minister. The IPL founder had blamed then home minister P Chidambaram for teasing him for the same reason, a charge the latter has trashed. The allegation against Mukherjee is part of Modi ' s 46-page statement to UK authorities seeking permission to stay on "as a representative of an overseas business". Mukherjee ' s reaction was part of the Congress backlash for his claims on April 11, 2010 that Tharoor ' s late wife Sunanda Pushkar held 25% sweat equity in the Kochi IPL franchise and it was Tharoor who made the bid for the franchise. The disclosure left "Congress furious with me", said Modi. After some days his tweets on the Kochi franchise and Shashi Tharoor ' s resignation, the I-T department raided the BCCI office and questioned him, Lalit Modi told UK authorities. "By April 21, the ED and agencies responsible for foreign exchange and money laundering compliance had initiated probes against me relating to potential forex violations in IPL 2 held in South Africa," he said. "I later learnt from my attorney, Mehmood Abdi, that soon after Tharoor ' s resignation, Mukherjee ordered a probe against me," he said. Talking about his tweets disclosing Pushkar ' s sweat equity in the Kochi franchise, Modi said: "Needless to say, this revelation caused a political earthquake in India. The BJP opposition called for the immediate resignation of Tharoor — held in high regard by Congress — from his ministerial post. Congress initially stood by him, but as the days passed pressure mounted on Tharoor. On April 18, 2010 he stood down as MoS, external affairs. In the end it was a decision made by Congress that Tharoor should resign rather than a decision made by Tharoor himself. ' ' Modi said: "I am sure the political downfall of Tharoor generated much enmity towards me in Mrs  Sonia Gandhi as it did in Tharoor himself. ' ' On Mukherjee ' s role, Modi said: "It was clear even before Tharoor resigned that Congress was furious over my decision to reveal Tharoor ' s ownership interest in the Kochi bid. " Modi also alleges that Ambani told him he could return if he promised to stay out of Rajasthan politics. "That ' s the word from the top," Modi claims Ambani told him.