Union Minister Sharad Pawar is set to be elected president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) unopposed on Friday, after BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s candidature was rejected because of an invalid residential address.
Mr. Munde argued that Mr. Pawar, too, did not have a permanent address in Mumbai, so his candidature should also be rejected. S.D. Singhvi, one of the voters, had objected to Mr. Munde’s candidature, arguing that he was not a Mumbai resident. The BJP leader cited the MCA’s rule that only the other candidate could raise an objection, and not a voter.
However, MCA president Ravi Savant, in his order issued on Thursday, rejected all the points raised by Mr. Munde. “The election officer’s decision rejecting the nomination [of Mr. Munde] … is confirmed.”
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Mr. Pawar had served the MCA as president for two terms, before becoming head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council. The other politicians who served as MCA presidents include the former Maharashtra Chief Ministers, Manohar Joshi and (the late) Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Mr. Munde produced the MCA’s July 9, 2011 order, accepting Deshmukh’s candidature. “The documents presented by me are identical to those presented by Deshmukh. His candidature was accepted without any objection, but mine was rejected. This has been done deliberately to help Mr. Pawar.”
Mr. Munde later moved a local court, seeking a stay on the likely unopposed election of Mr. Pawar and demanding that the election process be reinstated.
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