By Anil Sharma
Jaipur, April 26 (IANS) Lalit Kumar Modi, the former Indian Premier League (IPL) czar whose meteoric rise and fall have become the subject of intense discussion, was considered very close to former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and was described as a "single-window" for access and facilitation with the state government during her tenure.
In Rajasthan, it is said that Raje lost the assembly elections for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) due to her closeness to Modi. The Congress in its election campaigns had brought this up in its campaign.
His close proximity to the chief minister won him more foes than friends. If sources in the state bureaucracy are to be believed, then Modi used to run the government.
Modi had an influential impact on the bureaucracy of Rajasthan. Right from appointments on key posts to transfers and to snubbing bureaucrats, he was perceived as having a pivotal role.
"He used to come and stay in Rambagh Palace hotel where a suite was permanently booked for him and he used to call upon the IAS officers and other senior officials as if he was the chief minister and discuss various projects and issues with them," a senior bureaucrat told IANS but only on condition he should not be named.
"I remember that he used to pressurise us and tell us that if we do not do his work he would complain to the chief minister. Knowing his closeness with Raje, we used to do the work," the officer said. "He used to call Raje as Vasu and used to call her on phone quite regularly."
"Once he had a fight with a colleague of mine in the Sawai Man Singh Stadium where a one-day international match was being played. He straight away called up the chief minister and asked her to sack him. The next day the man was transferred. This would give an idea that how close this cricket czar was with Raje," another senior police official said.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the former IPL commissioner of having acted as an "extra-constitutional power" during Vasundhara Raje's rule.
"He (Modi) used to pressurise officers for favours due to his proximity to Raje," Gehlot has alleged.
Gehlot claimed that because of Modi's proximity to Raje, he used to put pressure on officers for favours.
The chief minister said that despite the protests by opposition against Modi's activities, Raje "remained silent". Gehlot claimed that Raje's silence would be considered as acceptance of doubts in the public mind.
"Some of the big land deals in Rajasthan have been brokered by Modi," alleged a senior state official though he added there was no documented evidence of that.
A senior industrialist while echoing similar views said that for people looking for an access to the Vasundhara Raje government, Modi was the single window.
"If you want to set up a project in Rajasthan, the best at that time was to approach Modi who used to get all clearances... almost a single window."
Modi is now facing an inquiry by the Rajasthan law department into the purchase of heritage havelis in the protected zone near Amber Fort, one of the main tourist attractions of Jaipur.