WRESTS POWER: A jubilant Sharad Pawar after being elected president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in Kolkata on Tuesday. The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah (left), joins in the celebration. Mr. Pawar got 20 v otes, two-thirds of the 30-member board. — Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Kolkata: Union Agriculture Minister and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Sharad Pawar was elected president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for 2005-06 at its 76th annual general meeting (adjourned) here on Tuesday.

Mr. Pawar polled 20 votes, two-thirds of the strength of the 30-member board. Incumbent president Ranbir Singh Mahendra received the support of 10 members. He used the chairman's vote, which made the final result 20-11.

Pawar supporters Niranjan Shah (Saurashtra), M.P. Pandove (Punjab) and N. Srinivasan (Tamil Nadu) were elected secretary, joint secretary and treasurer. They polled 18 votes each, five more than Goutham Dasgupta (Bengal), Brijesh Patel (Karnataka) and Jyoti Bajpai (Uttar Pradesh).

"Two extra votes"

A Pawar group spokesman said the MCA president received support from Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Goa (south zone), Mumbai, the Cricket Club of India, Baroda, Maharashtra, Saurashtra (west), Rajasthan, Vidarbha, the Railways, Madhya Pradesh (central), Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, All-India Universities, Services (north), Assam and Tripura (east). "Eighteen was our base figure, and Mr. Pawar got two extra votes from Andhra and Tripura."

After the Supreme Court-appointed observer, the former Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. T.S. Krishnamurthy, completed the election process, Mr. Pawar said: "I had expressed confidence yesterday that the election would be conducted in a smooth and fair manner. The observer, Mr. Krishnamurthy, had taken pains and cleared the way for smooth elections. I am grateful to the majority of members who have supported me. The BCCI will focus on generating interest in cricket among youth and also on the development of infrastructure. I hope I will get full cooperation from Ranbir Singh."

In the 2004 election, Mr. Pawar received the support of 15 members but lost to Mr. Mahendra by a single vote, thanks to the board's constitutional provision that allowed the then president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, to cast two votes — one as chairman of the AGM and the casting vote to break the deadlock.

Mustering adequate support, Mr. Pawar came to the 76th AGM in Kolkata in September but following litigation the "warring parties," as the Calcutta High Court put it, agreed to put off the election.

Guidelines framed

In between, the two parties agreed to the nomination of Mr. Krishnamurthy as observer. In the absence of election rules, he framed the guidelines, provided time to members to make representations and identified genuine members. Even at the eleventh hour, he received representations from groups belonging to the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Bihar (two units), the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association and Pondicherry, and allowed them to vote. These have been kept in sealed envelopes.

A veteran BCCI administrator, Mr. Mahendra was elected president in September 2004, but could not function for four months for technical reasons. He is the first president in many years who has not got a second term. An accurate interpretation by Mr. Krishnamurthy of the relevant clause in the BCCI constitution on the principle of rotation made it easy for Mr. Pawar to represent the MCA and contest for president.

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