AAP’s Rahul Mehra sought IPL favours?

NEW DELHI: The Laliltgate fire has now singed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the former IPL chief dragged both BJP and Congress to the controversy. In what could come as an embarrassment for AAP, Lalit Modi has tweeted a letter addressed to him by the party’s former spokesperson and Delhi government’s standing counsel in the high court, Rahul Mehra seeking favours to get exclusive F&B rights for all eight IPL stadiums for the 2nd IPL and future seasons.
The letter dates back to October 2008. Mehra in his letter had not only referred to his long relation with Modi since 2003-04, but he also praised the former IPL chief for his “passion for the game, dogged determination, progressive attitude, professionalism and incredible skill of getting things done despite red tape and opposition from within.”
The revelation comes at a time when AAP has been raising the issue of propriety and demanding resignation of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia for helping Modi.
In his letter Mehra, a lawyer and popular face on TV debates bashing at the corruption in cricket, said I had requested for an early go ahead for their proposed project of “transforming the in-stadia F&B industry” in India. The AAP leader wrote that he was initially asked to wait for a week. However, despite his numerous follow ups, he had not received any clear response or “current status”. Mehra in the letter said that postponement of a decision either which way was extremely frustrating and clear indication on the future course of action would be highly appreciated.
The letter says, “Since we first met, sometime in 2003-04, I have been an ardent admirer of your passion for the game…. Needless to say that I would not like to embarrass you by mailing you time and again and would be grateful I could speak with you before your proposed meeting with the franchisees on 17th on issues such as creating a central pool for F&B whereby you could call F&B rights back to IPL, revenue sharing, amongst others.”
Appreciating Modi’s appreciation for his efforts and based on the ex-IPL chief’s positive response he had kept his entire team on hold for couple of months. “We will look forward to hearing from you so as to get some clear indication as regards the time frame within which we could get exclusive F&B rights for all eight IPL stadiums for the 2nd and fruitful IPL seasons,” the letter said.