Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and his daughter, MP Supriya Sule, have strongly denied any links with the bid for the IPL Pune team by a company in which they had direct shareholding. This follows a newspaper report that they held over 16 per cent equity in City Corporation, a Pune-based construction company which bid Rs 1,176 crore for a franchise in March. Pawar said that neither he nor any of his family members are involved in any IPL team or the bidding process. <br/> <br/>Both Pawar and his daughter dismissed any lack of transparency. <br/>Pawar, a former BCCI President, insisted that the company's Managing Director Aniruddha Deshpande made the bid in his individual capacity though the bid was made in the name of the company. The Minister said he and his family had nothing to do with Deshpande's bid for the Pune IPL team, which eventually lost out to the Sahara Group.<br/> <br/>Sule released a letter purportedly written by City Corporation Director Arun Mehta's letter to its MD Aniruddha Deshpande which said that if any associates or directors wished to bid for the IPL team they should do so in their personal capacity.<br/> <br/>Deshpande also said neither Pawar nor his family members were involved in the failed bid and that he had acted in his individual capacity. Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi also sprang to Pawar's defence and said there was no truth in reports that he had any role in the bid. <br/> <br/>The Congress has also backed Pawar. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said nothing is proved against Pawar and his resignation demand is out of context.<br/> <br/>However, the BJP accused Pawar of misleading the nation by misrepresenting facts on the issue and demanded his immediate resignation. Party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said if Pawar did not resign, the BJP would demand the Prime Minister’s intervention. He also demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the IPL affairs.<br/>