Pushp, the family home of Shailendra Gaikwad, the Rendezvous Sports World promoter and CEO of the Kochi IPL team, in the Antrolikar Nagar area of Solapur, 450km from Mumbai. Picture by Kishore Raccha

Solapur, April 14: Flying down Sachin Tendulkar to Solapur for his sister’s wedding remains Shailendra Gaikwad’s best claim to fame in his hometown here — until the Tharoor-Modi tweet war, that is.

The Twitter battle between junior external affairs minister Shashi Tharoor and Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi has put the focus squarely on Gaikwad and his dealings in the Kochi team.

Even the huge Rs 1,500-crore bid for Kochi had gone largely unnoticed in sleepy Solapur, a Lok Sabha constitutency nursed by Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde until his light-eyed daughter Praniti became an MP from the town last year.

It was only after the Tharoor-Modi Twitter war made front-page news that the local media woke up to the quiet Gaikwad bungalow, tucked away in a residential locality.

The one-storeyed bungalow can be described as “palatial”, but does not contain any overt show of wealth. A huge cage for the ferocious-looking, but lazy, Matisse dog is the first thing that strikes one at the bungalow. Apart from white leather designer sofas in the large hall, there is barely any sign of “big money” that IPL team owners love to flaunt.

Much before Gaikwad put together what many consider audacious and “suspicious” bid for the Kochi team, he had already put together a team for the SPL — the Solapur Premier League — a local tournament organised by Praniti and the town’s Congress leaders in August 2009, four months after she was elected to Parliament. A SPL trophy from the young MP graces the desk next to a Samsung flat-screen TV in the hall.

In the house, there is no sign of Gaikwad’s parents, Kishanrao and Pushpa Gaikwad, who hold 70 per cent of the 25 per cent free equity in the Kochi team with their son and Sunanda Pushkar among others.

Fielding questions about the controversy is the unassuming Pratibha, Gaikwad’s London-based sister who has been in town since the birth of her six-month-old son Rudhir.

“I am a gynaecologist in London. I had come home after three years for my delivery. I honestly have no clue about the IPL or its holdings. It is not correct on my part to speak on my brother’s behalf,” said Pratibha, the youngest of the three Gaikwad siblings. While the eldest Shailendra ran Pushpa Automobile Service and Pushp Cricket Academy in Solapur before launching Rendezvous Sports World consortium, the other brother, Ravi, works as an assistant regional transport officer at Andheri RTO office in Mumbai.

Left to face the media while both her brothers had switched off their cellphones and remained incommunicado even as rumour of income-tax raids at their Mumbai residence and offices flew thick and fast, Pratibha admitted the family was close to Sachin Tendulkar. “I do not know exactly where and how Shailendra became friends with Sachin Tendulkar, but yes, he did grace my wedding five years ago in Solapur,” she says shyly. She hastens to add, though: “But our IPL venture has nothing to do with Sachin.”

The Kochi team is likely to bid for Tendulkar during the 2011 IPL-4 season. Gaikwad himself had indicated at his maiden press conference in Mumbai on March 28 that Tendulkar topped his wish list for next year’s auction.

On Pratibha’s insistence, her cousin Satyajit Gaikwad spoke to The Telegraph from New Delhi, about two and half hours after IPL chief Modi addressed a news conference in Mumbai. Blaming the controversy over the Kochi team and its holdings on an overzealous media, Satyajit, who claimed he was the spokesperson for Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), said: “We have nothing against Lalit Modi. In fact, we appreciate and are proud of what he has done for Indian cricket. We have already given all details about the team shareholdings to the IPL. But, if Modi still has some queries, we will submit all details. We want to work constructively with the IPL management.”

Satyajit denied all allegations and speculation over Tharoor’s financial involvement in the team, suspicion about money routed through tax havens and the alleged presence of foreign entities routing funds through dummy individuals. When it was pointed out that Tharoor had himself alleged that Modi was conspiring to scuttle the Kochi team bid in favour of another corporate entity, Satyajit said: “It is all media politics. Tharoor supported the Kochi team simply because he is a leader from Kerala and Sunanda Pushkar is a personal friend of his.”

Satyajit said eight investors had come together and raised Rs 46 crore, which was paid to IPL as minimum guarantee money when the bid was finalised.

“As per the agreement, we have to pay Rs 150 crore per year to the IPL, and Rs 1,500 crore is the total payment we have to make in 10 years. So, after Rs 46 crore, we are committed to paying 30 per cent in January 2011, and 70 cent of the remaining amount in March 2011,” said Satyajit adding, “We have enough avenues to raise the money like TV and media rights, various sponsorships, gate collections. Besides, DLF is also supposed to pay us some money.”

Satyajit said the investors were the owners of the team, and there was no cause for concern. “We have divided the stakes according to the investments. RSW has a 26 per cent stake, Anchor holds 27 per cent, Parinee has 26 per cent, Film Walas hold 12 per cent, builder Anand Shyam holds 8 per cent, and (Kochi entrepreneur) Vivek Venugopal holds 1 per cent.”

Satyajit asserted that Tharoor does “not have any financial involvement”. “The speculation about foreign entities investing in this venture is also false. The minimum guarantee money has been deposited in IPL coffers from Indian bank accounts of the investors involved.”

Later, Satyajit admitted in an interview to STAR News in New Delhi that the 70 per cent free equity the Gaikwads hold was divided almost equally between Kishanrao and Pushpa, while Shailendra held just 0.1 per cent.

Speaking to this paper later tonight, Pratibha denied reports of an I-T raid on the “Pushp” (Solapur) bungalow. “Nobody has come here. Even if they come, we have nothing to hide,” she said.