Modi was referring to allegations that Tharoor was actively negotiating the sweat equity for his wife Sunanda Pushkar in 2010.
Modi addressed his supporters when he took jibes at Tharoor, saying, ‘Everyone has heard about the minister, taken back on board and rewarded for his conduct. He claimed in the Parliament that he is in no way connected to the Rs 50 crore and that these are in his friend’s name. Who has heard of a crorepati girlfriend? And then girlfriend becomes wife, we learn sometime later’. Modi’s statement came as Tharoor made a comeback in the Union cabinet after a reshuffle.
Modi was referring to Tharoor's allegations of actively negotiating the sweat equity for Sunanda Pushkar, who was later on Jan 17, 2014, found dead in room number 345 of the Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
When Pushkar was dating Tharoor, she started getting media attention, as it became known that she had been given sweat equity worth Rs 700 million in Rendezvous Sports World. In 2010, the company bid for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team Kochi Tuskers Kerala, representing Tharoor's native state Kerala. The company was founded in 2009, while Sunanda Pushkar was made a Director of the company on Feb 25, 2010, just 18 days before the IPL bid. There were allegations that Tharoor had misused his ministerial position to ask for a free stake in the company and that Sunanda was acting as a proxy for him. The controversy ultimately resulted in Shashi Tharoor's resignation as a minister.
Modi’s statement drew flak from various Congress leaders, and Tharoor rebuked, saying that his wife’s worth was way more than Rs 50 crore and that the Prime Minister needs to love someone to understand that.
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