Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla (born 13 September 1959) is an Indian politician, former journalist, political commentator and the former chairman of Indian Premier League. In 2015, he was re-appointed unanimously as the Chairman of IPL by the BCCI. On 18 December 2020, he was elected unopposed Vice President of the BCCI.^[2]

Rajeev Shukla was born on 13 September 1959 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.^[3] He studied at Pandit Prithi Nath College, Kanpur,^[4] and Christ Church College, Kanpur.^[5] He then studied law at Vikramajit Singh Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur.^[6]

Before entering politics, he was friends with Deepa Saxena, with whom he shared the theater stage, and he was a reporter for the Hindi daily Jansatta. Shukla held this job until 1985, when he became a special correspondent for Ravivar Magazine.^[7] He was hired as a senior editor, and he continued in that job until being elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2000. He has now joined the Indian National Congress.^[8]

Rajeev Shukla is married to Anurradha Prasad. Anurradha Prasad is Managing Director of B.A.G. Films and Media Limited, and is sister of Ravi Shankar Prasad.^[9] The couple has one daughter Vaanya Shukla.

Running as a member of the Akhil Bhartiya Loktantrik Congress Party, Shukla won by a large margin.^[10] In 2003, his party merged with the Indian National Congress, and Shukla was appointed as a spokesperson. He was nominated as a secretary to the All India Congress Committee in January 2006.^[11] In March 2006, Shukla was elected for a second term.

Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh in June 2022.^[12]

Lalit Modi, an Indian businessman, who was the founder and first chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and was banned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for life on September 25, 2013, made a spate of podcast and media interviews in June 2026. In these interviews, including a detailed interview with ANI Editor-in-Chief Smita Prakash, Modi made several sensational claims against many Congress leaders, including ex Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Modi claimed that his strict crackdown on illegal betting and match-fixing had angered the mafia and the underworld. He claimed that Gandhi had backed the then Minister Shashi Tharoor, who was at the back of Kochi Tuskers, whose matters finally led to Modi's exit from IPL. Modi claimed Tharoor initially "sucked up" to him, visiting his house and making sweet talks to accommodate the franchise arrangements to Sunanda Pushkar in Kochi Tuskers. When Modi allegedly declined to do so, Tharoor allegedly directly threatened Modi with government raids if he questioned the equity structure of the Kochi Tuskers. He even named Sonia Gandhi, claiming that "all guns were trained on me", naming Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, and Shukla, as pressurizing him to clear the Kochi franchise deal on behalf of Gandhi. He alleged that the then BCCI President Shashank Manohar had also asked him to do so, specifically mentioned 10-Janpath pressure. Modi claimed the Congress party is running a long-term vendetta against him, where Rahul Gandhi continues to target him during elections even today. He said he possesses huge amount of evidences of this targeted witch-hunt against him. ^{[13][14] [15][16] [17][18] [19][20]}

So far there has been no response from Shukla or the Congress Party on this matter.

• The Indian Express: Columnists > Rajeev Shukla
• http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_now-congress-slips-on-ipl-muck-srk-link-with-rajiv-shukla-emerges_1374686