MUMBAI : Backed strongly by the Shiv Sena, which has fielded its own candidates, Vijay Patil is bidding to dethrone NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and wrest control of the Mumbai Cricket Association at its polls scheduled for Wednesday.
The contest between incumbent president Pawar and Patil, who was one of the two vice-presidents under the former in the outgoing regime, has evoked strong response from the cricket circles with both parties wooing the 300-odd voting clubs and gymkhanas by throwing lavish dinner parties. Patil threw down the gauntlet by asking Pawar to withdraw from the contest and bless his ‘Cricket First’ panel at the first dinner hosted as a prelude.
Pawar responded by saying he would probably not have contested had Patil given an undertaking that international and IPL games allotted to MCA would not be hijacked to his DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray came out in support of Patil at a dinner hosted by the panel on Monday. He lashed out at Pawar saying while legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar have retired, Pawar is still all set to bat with his pads on while his score has been zero despite a long reign at the helm of MCA.
The war of words between the rival groups has spiced up the elections in which former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar is contesting for one of the two vice-president’s posts as part of the Pawar-Mahaddalkar ensemble. Cricket First has fielded former Test cricketers Abey Kuruvilla, Lalchand Rajput and Pravin Amre.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and Vengsarkar are the two contestants from the Pawar panel vying to become vice-presidents, while Kuruvilla and Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik are part of the Cricket First group. Sena MP Rahul Shewale is contesting from the Patil group for the 11-member committee. Pawar headed MCA from 2001-11, before handing over the reins to fellow-politician Vilasrao Deshmukh whose death in 2012 enabled Ravi Savant to become the interim president.
BATTLE FOR MUMBAI
President: Sharad Pawar vs Vijay Patil. Vice-presidents (2): Dilip Vengsarkar & Ashish Shelar vs Abey Kuruvilla & Pratap Sarnaik. Joint-secretaries (2): Ravi Savant & PV Shetty vs Lalchand Rajput & Umesh Khanvilkar. Treasurer: Nitin Dalal vs Mayank Khandwala.
