London, June 4 -- Former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has made explosive claims while recollecting the fracas surrounding the Kochi Tuskers IPL franchise in 2010. Lalit Modi, who now lives in the UK, claimed that a political shield was put up for Congress leader Shashi Tharoor during the controversy.

In an interview with ANI, Lalit Modi claimed that when he attempted to block the entry of the Kochi consortium over an alleged fraudulent equity structure involving Tharoor's late wife, Sunanda Pushkar, the entire machinery of the then-ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government ganged up to bring him down.

When asked who was backing Shashi Tharoor, Lalit said, "Sonia Gandhi. All guns were trained on me from every side. I got calls from ...