Pawar out on Dalmiya googly

NCP leader not to move court

Ranvir Singh, the presidential candidate backed by outgoing president Jagmohan Dalmiya, defeated Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar here today by a solitary vote to become the 27th president of India's richest sports organisation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Singh was elected by the casting vote of Dalmiya after the poll was tied at 15-15 in an eventful day, which saw no representation from Maharashtra, the home state of Pawar. Dalmiya used his discretionary power to disallow two members, both of whom claimed to be true representatives of the Maharashtra Cricket Association.

Pawar indicated there was foul play involved. "The bowler was also the umpire," he said. However, he ruled out the possibility of moving court on the issue. "But, if the Maharashtra cricket board wants to move the court, I cannot stop them," he added

"Had the true representative of Maharashtra, DC Agashe, a member for 20 years, was allowed to vote, I would have won. Since the casting vote of the outgoing president went against us, it gave out the plan," Pawar said coming out of the annual general meeting.

Along with Pawar several of his supporters also lost in the election to other posts like secretary and joint secretary. SK Nair was re-elected BCCI secretary defeating Niranjan Shah by 17-13 votes, while Jyoti Bajpai was re-elected uncontested as treasurer. Gautam Dasgupta was elected joint secretary defeating Ratnakar Shetty by 16-14 votes.

However, the newly-elected president Singh refuted Pawar's claim, saying everything was done according to the law. Admitting that there was cross-voting, Singh said he was expecting four-five votes more.

Dalmiya also stood by his decision of barring Agashe to vote. Asked about the order issued by a court in Chennai against his elevation as patron-in-chief of the BCCI, Dalmiya said he would move court tomorrow.

On a day marked by the intervention of a Division Bench of the Madras High Court overturning the presence of a commissioner appointed by a single-judge Bench last night to oversee the election, the board's annual general meeting went ahead with the process that saw a tie.

Pawar said his defeat was ensured through unfair means. One of their genuine votes "was deliberately nega-ted," Pawar said. The NCP leaders also raised question about the election process in the board, saying some serious thoughts should be given to it to correct anomalies.

"There should be a proper procedure of elections like date of nomination, scrutiny and election. Here everything takes place on the same day and the election is conducted by a person who belongs to one of the groups," he added.