I/IV. http://www.firstpost.com/living/breaking-down-the-india-today-interview-lalit-modi-self-detonates-takes-everyone-with-him-2298968.html
Breaking down the India Today interview: Lalit Modi self-detonates, takes everyone with him by Rajyasree Sen Jun 17, 2015 12:24 IST After inflicting one of the most torturous press conferences in recent times onto a gullible public, Lalit Modi decided to pip the newly christened India Today news channel to the post and tweeted multiple times: Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi No interviews I am giving till I break the story live and exclusive with @sardesairajdeep who is flying all the way to beautiful montenegro🙏 11:40 PM - 15 Jun 2015 · Montenegro, Crna Gora 200 200 Retweets 134 134 favorites Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi Just landed in #montenegro. On way to #aman Sveti #stefan. Waiting for @sardesairajdeep to land tomorrow for live and exclusive worldwide 11:05 PM - 15 Jun 2015 · Montenegro, Crna Gora 183 183 Retweets 113 113 favorites Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi Today was just a teaser. Tomorrow night going live and exclusive myself with @sardesairajdeep in person from #montenegro - see u tom here 🙏 11:02 PM - 15 Jun 2015 · Montenegro, Crna Gora 347 347 Retweets 197 197 favorites Leaving aside the fact that Lalit Modi’s secret talents lie in social media management, I returned home last night to find the interview playing on loop. While he was there in person on India Today, his presence could be felt like Banquo’s ghost on Times Now where Arnab was saying, and I quote, “this country does not need to seek cosy interviews with Lalit Modi. This country only needs to seek the truth”. Which led me to wonder, did Arnab’s interview fall through? Or is Lalit Modi delusional? After all, he had tweeted: Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi Post @sardesairajdeep doing second interview with @GilbertJon which will air uncut on @timesnow. Who is also flying in to interview me tom 🙏 11:46 PM - 15 Jun 2015 · Montenegro, Crna Gora 125 125 Retweets 84 84 favorites On top of that, Padmaja Joshi and Aditya Raj Kaul seemed to have been locked out of Vasundhara Raje’s house. Which is when I got Arnab’s angst. After all, how fair was that? Times Now reporters sweating copiously while being shouted at by Arnab who had broken 25 stories yesterday according to him, while Rajdeep who had not broken even one story, was sitting on a beach interviewing Lalit Modi near the Adriatic Sea. I almost expected Stephen Fry, Kevin Spacey, Paris Hilton and Naomi Campbell to be sitting there as well. But I got the next best thing, to watch Lalit Modi metamorphose from calm Cheshire Cat to an even more blustering version of Arnab Goswami than we are used to on Times Now. Rajdeep must be given full points for not losing his cool even when being niggled by Modi. He began by cocking a snook at Modi living life king-size in Montenegro. What was odd was that Lalit Modi, who began the interview gleefully, took the statement as a compliment. The pain points of the interview were that the lip synch for Rajdeep seemed to be off with an almost 10 second delay. And it takes a while to decipher Lalit Modi’s accent which is borrowed from Shoaib Akhtar and Salman Khan. Screenshot from the interview.Screenshot from the interview. Modi didn’t mince any words. According to him, Shashi Tharoor lost his job because of his dealings in the IPL and then his wife died “unfortunately”. He also admitted he’d made the phone call to Sushma Swaraj asking for her help, and then dropped the bomb which no one expected. Least of all the person he named. Vasundhara Raje must have cursed him when he said that she accompanied his wife twice to Portugal when he couldn’t go along. What was interesting was that as the interview progressed, Modi’s Cheshire cat smile vanished. Only to be replaced by a grimace and an increasing rise in decibel levels. Which seemed louder because Rajdeep kept calm through all the bluster. Because after all, Modi was singing like a canary. Naming names, and not being able to defend himself. What was interesting, for an innocent man, every time Rajdeep would point out that UK saw Modi as an absconder and that he was a fugitive, Modi would almost burst an aneurysm. According to him, it was the interference of the UPA government in collusion with the UK government which delayed his UK residency. Rajdeep was relentless. He read out Keith Vaz’s pompous email which said that “everyone except Ban Ki Moon has been spoken to” about Lalit Modi’s papers, especially of course the lamb to the slaughter or the lady of the hour, Sushma Swaraj. And how within 24 hours, Modi got the travel papers he was denied for 4 years. In Swaraj’s defense, Modi said that Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel and Rajeev Shukla also helped him with his travel documents. With friends like Lalit Modi, no politician needs an enemy. Again, when Lalit Modi said he’s appeared in all his court cases, Rajdeep very calmly stated that there were 8 showcause notices which Modi has ignored. When Modi claimed that he’d appeared through his lawyers, Rajdeep was quick to point out that he hasn’t appeared in even one Indian court. Which Modi claims is because of security issues. Before the interview, in anticipation the day before, Modi had tweeted: Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi Lastly before I board another flight to another beautiful destination. This is war. So bring it on. I choose to lose a battle to win a war. 8:34 PM - 15 Jun 2015 164 164 Retweets 113 113 favorites Lalit Kumar Modi ✔@LalitKModi This story will turn in its head I can assure you all right now.Let's wait and watch who was on the right and who was in the wrong. 💣💣💣💣💣🙏🇮🇳 8:10 PM - 15 Jun 2015 356 356 Retweets 183 183 favorites I’m assuming that this was the battle he had decided to lose, because there was nothing winning about seeing him slowly deteriorating into one of those blustering loud men who keep interrupting or shouting you down to get a point through. Especially when questioned about why he thanked Swaraj Kaushal, Sushma Swaraj’s husband for the help they have provided. According to him, Sushma Swaraj’s husband has been his lawyer for over 20 years and her daughter is his legal counsel as well. And he’s never been charged for their legal services. He didn’t seem to recognise any conflict of interest in asking her for intervention in getting him his travel documents. For a bright man, he seemed surprisingly slow on the uptake in this point. According to Modi, there was a secret correspondence between UK and Indian government to not give him travel documents. And P Chidambaram was trying to get UK to deport him to India. At one point, you really felt he should sip some water when he kept repeating, “it was a political vendetta”. Also, according to Modi when questioned on why he chose Portugal for treatment, his initial response was that Rajdeep should do his research before questioning him. To which he got a fitting response when Rajdeep said his research shows that under Portuguese rules the husband’s consent is not required for the wife in cases like Modi’s. Which left him to stutter that Rajdeep isn’t familiar to cancer and that people with liver cancer don’t survive. (P.S. It took me 5 minutes of googling to land on the relevant Cancer Research UK page, which basically proves that Modi’s claims on liver cancer are bunkum). But hey, what does Cancer Research UK know. Rajdeep also asked whether it was true that in 3 days, Modi and his wife were in Ibiza. This was explained by Modi, when he said that this is a revolutionary treatment after which you can get off the OT table, undergo no post-operative care, and go and have dinner somewhere. The miracle of science, I tell you. He also said, “the people I believe who should be resigning are people who have hid across borders, the fact of the secret conspiracy, they are the ones who should be resigning”. If you can decipher what he wanted to say, let me and Rajdeep know. He couldn’t say though who was targeting Sushma Swaraj and refused to name Jaitley and also claimed that someone hacked into Keith Vaz’s email. And that actually Rupert Murdoch was after him because of BCCI. Murdoch wanted to get out of the BCCI Champion’s League contracts which have no exit clauses for 10 years. But Rajdeep had a point, out of all the people why would Murdoch target Modi who has no real role in BCCI right now. To which we got another bizarre Modi response, that it was because Modi will “go out there and say exit clauses for 10 years is not possible”. He also decided to kill irony, when he said that he doesn’t drop names for the sake of dropping names. Once again, hats off to Rajdeep for not choking. BY this time, the count of bodies included the UPA government, Sushma Swaraj, Swaraj Kaushal, Sushma Swaraj’s daughter, Praful Patel, Rajiv Shukla, Vasundhara Raje, Sharad Pawar. In the “we want to persecute Modi unfairly” corner was Tharoor, Chidambaram and Murdoch. I’m surprised Modi didn’t say he felt someone was spying on him through the television. When told by Rajdeep that the ED wanted to investigate Modi for cases amounting to Rs 700-800 crore for the 2009 and 2010 IPL, Modi claimed he has a security concern which is why he can’t return to India. After naming the names he has, he may just be proven right in his security concern perception. Also he claimed that N Srinivasan in writing told him to stay out of financial decisions during the IPL in South Africa and made a committee and decided to open bank accounts in South Africa without RBI approval and transferred money into and out of the accounts. Modi like Manmohan Singh, of course, did not benefit from any such activities. Basically, Modi is a free and honest man who is not returning to India because of security concerns. The poor persecuted chap. For someone who was in the right, and who’d boasted about how the truth would be out and so on, you couldn’t help but feel that Lalit Modi seemed very agitated. Or maybe it’s just that the Montenegro sun was getting to him. ***Either way, the only person who came out looking good in this interview was Rajdeep Sardesai. Because he did what any canny interviewer should do when faced with someone spilling the beans, just sit back and watch the person dig himself into a deeper hole.*** [Emphasis added.] But just when it was getting interesting, the interview ended. It was like an Indie film, where they suddenly ran out of money and had to wrap up pronto. Along with Lalit Modi’s accent, this will remain a mystery of the universe. What happened India Today TV? Ran out of tape? The recording went awry? Some explanation would be nice. And some warning before Lalit Modi’s face transformed into Rahul Kanwal’s telling us once again, to stay back and watch Rajdeep interviewing Lalit Modi on a beachside in Montenegro. And repeat. II/IV. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/lalit-modi-interview-rajdeep-sardesai-ipl-sushma-swaraj/1/445035.html WORLD EXCLUSIVE: I have done nothing wrong, says Lalit Modi Rajdeep Sardesai | June 17, 2015 Video [Alternately, or additionally, one may also look up: <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/lalit-modi-exclusive-interview-sushma-swaraj-india-today-tv/1/444947.html>.] III/IV. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/lalit-modi-funded-vasundhara-rajes-sons-company-alleges-pil-1007461.html Lalit Modi funded Vasundhara Raje's son's company, alleges PIL Posted on: 12:31 PM IST Jun 17, 2015 | Updated on: 12:35 pm,Jun 17,2015 IST CNN-IBN After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is in the dock over the controversy surrounding former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi's travel papers. A lawyer has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against Lalit Modi and Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh, who reportedly floated a company called Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt Ltd during Raje's first tenure as Rajasthan Chief Minister. The PIL has alleged that former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi gave unsecured loans to Vashundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh's company. According to lawyer Poonam Chand Bhandari, who filed the PIL, Lalit Modi's Anand Heritage Hotels gave unsecured loans worth Rs 3.80 crore to Dushyant Singh's company. [Video] The lawyer has also claimed that the former IPL chief bought shares worth Rs 10 in Dushyant's company at a premium of more than Rs 96,000 each. "I filed a PIL in Delhi High Court, they said they will investigate the case and bring it to a logical end. The payment was made for no reason, Rs 10 share was bought for Rs 96,190. It shows that he transferred his black money through this company, said the lawyer, pointing that Dushyant Singh and his wife are directors in the company. Reacting to the development, Congress leader Shobha Oza said that the entire "Modi-gate" showed that "achche din has been brought for offenders like Lalit Modi". The sentiments were echoed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashish Khetan, who said that the government had brought "achche din for legal offenders". [May also look up: <http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-live-lalit-modi-sushma-swaraj-row-coverage-vasundhara-raje-in-dock-2096312>.] IV. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/congress-ramps-up-demand-for-resignation-of-swaraj-raje-says-pm-modi-backing-leaders/article1-1359641.aspx Lalit Modi visa row: Cong steps up demand for resignation of Swaraj, Raje, says PM supporting leaders HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi| Updated: Jun 17, 2015 15:42 IST Sushma Swaraj with former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi during an IPL match in New Delhi in 2010.(PTI Photo) The Congress on Wednesday ramped up its demand for the resignation of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, a day after controversial former IPL boss Lalit Modi claimed they helped him with his travel papers in UK. Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said Modi's claims showed how BJP leaders were helping the former IPL commissioner stay in London when he faces serious charges of money laundering and forex violation in India. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue shows that there is a mute support from him to his leaders and Lalit Modi" Oza said. The Congress spokesperson was responding to the cricket czar's interview to India Today TV on Wednesday, in which he said that Raje had agreed to secretly back his application for immigration to the UK in 2011, when she was the opposition leader. “She openly agreed to be (a witness), but unfortunately by the time the case went to trial, she was already chief minister, so she did not come to become a witness. The statements she gave is all on records in the courts,” he said in the interview. The claim came hours after Modi’s camp reportedly released a ‘witness statement’ purportedly signed by Raje under a condition of strict secrecy. Modi also confirmed that he sought external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj's help for getting British travel documents to travel to Portugal and that he was close to her family. Swaraj's help to Modi, first reported in the Sunday Times of London, has become an embarassment for the BJP with the opposition alleging a conflict of interest and gunning for her resignation. In his interview, also dragged in the names of former union ministers Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel (both from the Nationalist Congress Party) and Rajeev Shukla (Congress) saying they too helped him get travel papers. He also accused former finance minister P Chidambaram of pursuing political vendetta against him for his role in the resignation of Shashi Tharoor over the Kochi IPL team controversy. Congress leaders however dismissed the allegations, saying the letters written to British authorities on Lalit Modi case during UPA rule would answer all these accusations. "The complete answer to Mr. Lalit Modi's accusations against the UPA can be found in the letters to the UK Chancellor. Release them," Chidambaram tweeted. [May also look up: ''Modigate' row deepens, Congress guns for Raje and Swaraj's sacking' at <http://www.rediff.com/news/report/release-letters-written-to-uk-authorities-on-lalit-modi-chidambaram/20150617.htm>.] -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
