Samajwadi Party demands Shashi Tharoor's resignation

Samajwadi Party (SP) today asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to remove minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor from Union cabinet over the Kochi IPL team controversy.

"It was the Congress which promoted Tharoor and after he has been made a minister his acts are now getting exposed," SP national general secretary Mohan Singh told reporters in Lucknow.

He alleged that Tharoor had been exposed in the IPL row and now he was making desperate efforts to conceal his mistakes.

"I feel ashamed of taking name of such a person. I request the prime minister that he (Tharoor) should be removed from the Union ministry immediately," Singh demanded.

The PM's statement that he was looking into the matter was beyond understanding, he said. "He should take immediate decision in such matters," the SP leader said.
 
Tharoor is battling allegations that his friend Sunanda Pushkar, a Kashmiri beautician, had received Rs70 crore free equity in the Kochi IPL team.

However, the Union minister has rejected charges that he had misused his office or indulged in corruption in IPL Kochi team's bid.