DROP OF LALIT MODI

What made Sharad Pawar abandon his protégé, Lalit Modi, in the great battle raging over the Indian Premier League (IPL)?

Sources tell NDTV that the tide turned at a meeting on Tuesday, reported on extensively by NDTV, where Pawar met with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram


Pawar, and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel have both denied that Lalit Modi has become the latest stress test of their Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) alliance with the Congress.

But at the meeting, Pawar was reportedly told about recorded phone conversations between Modi and politicians.  The Congress leaders also briefed Pawar on mounting evidence of financial irregularities involving Modi.

Pawar was reportedly told to distance himself from Modi.     

Allegations that a union minister's relatives are involved with the IPL were also discussed. On Tuesday, Patel was asked by NDTV about newspaper reports that seemed to allege he's the minister in question. Patel emphatically denied this, saying he has nothing to do with either cricket or the IPL