Mumbai, Nov 12 The all-powerful Sharad Pawar Panel won 12 out of the 16 posts contested for the managing committee of the Mumbai Cricket Association, the elections for which were contested on Wednesday.
However, they did not get the all-important post of the President that incumbent Ajinkya S Naik retained unopposed. Naik is considered to have the backing of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but had, before the elections, met former MCA and BCCI President Sharad Pawar and sought his blessings too. Ajinkya Naik's path to being elected unopposed was cleared following a meeting between Pawar and CM Fadnavis.
Former India women's team captain Diana Edulji, BJP MLC Prasad Lad, and some other potential candidates interested in contesting for the President's post withdrew, while NCP (SP) MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad decided to contest for the vice-president's post, as did Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narvekar, who contested for Apex Council membership.
The Sharad Pawar Panel won the Vice-President post with NCP (SP) MLA and former minister Jitendra Awhad, who was earlier a member of the Apex Council, trouncing his opponent Navin Krishna Shetty 201-155 votes. Umesh Khanwilkar won the Secretary's post by polling 227 votes to 122 by Shahalam Shaikh, while Nilesh Bhosale was elected joint-secretary as he bagged 228 votes as against 129. Surendra Shewale of the panel bagged 119 votes as against 228 by Arman Mallick in the race for the Treasurer's post.
Apart from these office-bearers, Pradeep Gupta and Kenny Bharat Sachidanand, representing the panel, were elected as Council Members, while Vignesh Kadam, Nadeem Menon, Milind Narvekar (retained), and Vikas Repale were elected Apex Council Members.
Pramod Yadav, Suraj Samant, and Sandeep Vichare were elected Apex Council Members, while Neel Sawant was voted as an Independent Apex Council Member. Rajdipkumar Gupta was unopposed as chairman of the governing council.
The election of many of these candidates became easier as several potential candidates withdrew from the elections following the meeting between the top leaders.
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude and humility as I express my sincere thanks to each and every club secretary for placing their trust in me. I am honoured to have been elected and am committed to working tirelessly to strengthen our cricketing community, nurture talent, and take our association to greater heights," said Apex council member Suraj Samat.
"I thank the members for their support and look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders to drive growth, transparency, and excellence in Mumbai cricket. Together, let's make cricket thrive," he added further.
--IANS
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