No proof of NCP's links with IPL: D P Tripathi

New Delhi, Apr 22 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson D P Tripathi on Thursday said there is no proof of the party's involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL), adding that the party is ready to challenge any agency accusing it of having a link.

"No NCP leader's family is linked with the IPL. Praful Patel's daughter Poorna Patel just works with the IPL," said Tripathi.

"There is no proof of wrongdoing by Poorna Patel," he added, asserting that children of politicians have a right to work anywhere.

On the e-mail sent by Praful Patel's secretary to Tharoor, Tripathi said: "It is not a classified or confidential document."

The NCP spokesperson said both the Congress and his party are together on the issue.

"Sports should not be politicised. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should be allowed to handle all the aspects," said Tripathi.

"Congress has been forthright on the issue and similar views have earlier also been put forward by Congress Party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi and its spokesperson Manish Tiwari," he added.

When asked whether Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar should quit till the issue is resolved, Tripathi said that nobody from the Congress Party has made these demands, as they know the truth.

"No political leader has said it yet, as they know facts are facts," said Tripathi.

"Pawar is just promoting cricket just because he is the International Cricket Council (ICC) President-designate and the former BCCI President," he added.

"The Income Tax department and the Enforcement Department (ED) are probing. The truth will come out soon," claimed Tripathi.

Tripathi further said there were earlier allegations about the NCP withdrawing themselves from the Kochi franchise and then supporting it.

"NCP just supported Shashi Tharoor because, as a cricket lover, he wanted to promote cricket in Kerala," said Tripathi.

Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule has said that her husband Sadanand has got some proxy rights, but he earns no money.

The IPL scam took a new turn this morning, as details of mail sent from Praful Patel's office to Tharoor were leaked to the media.

A day after Patel claimed that he had nothing to do with the IPL, it emerged that his personal secretary had sent a mail to Tharoor in March, with a document containing projections of new franchisee valuation in the IPL.

It was reported that, Champa Bharadwaj, personal secretary to Patel, forwarded a mail from her official ID to Tharoor's personal ID, hours after IPL Chief Executive officer Sunder Raman sent the same document to Patel's daughter Poorna Patel, who is IPL's hospitality manager.

Bharadwaj, sent a mail to Tharoor on March 19, two days before the bids were opened and Tharoor supported Kochi team sprang a surprise by making the second highest bid.

Meanwhile, Patel claimed that his secretary was only forwarding information requested by Tharoor.

Poorna Patel admitted that she had forwarded the mail to her father's secretary, but said she was only following Raman's instructions.

The Enforcement Department (ED) has filed a report against all eight Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for violation of key sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The ED is probing the investment of foreign money in the IPL. (ANI)