Sharad Pawar Plays Wankhede Card as Mumbai Cricket's Power Politics Hots Up
Sharad Pawar will contest Shiv Sena-backed Vijay Patil in the Mumbai Cricket Association presidential elections on June 17. Pawar was elected unopposed in 2013 for a two-year term.
Cricket has thoroughly mixed with politics as Sharad Pawar faces some serious opposition in the upcoming Mumbai Cricket Association elections.(Uddhav Thackeray Lashes Out at Sharad Pawar)
Just like the parliamentary elections, cricket politics in Mumbai is making strange bed fellows as Nationalist Congress Party chief Pawar has joined hands with BJP honchos to battle the Shiv Sena-backed Vijay Patil, the son of veteran Congress leader and former Bihar Governor DY Patil.(Sharad Pawar and Vijay Patil Fight it Out for MCA Presidency)
Pawar has presided over MCA for 12 years, facing real opposition only once in 2001. In 2013, he was won a two-year term unopposed but this time Pawar is not on cruise mode. To woo maximum support, Pawar is hell bent on protecting Wankhede Stadium's stature as Mumbai's No. 1 international venue.
On the contrary, Patil, much to Pawar's discomfort, wants international and IPL games at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
DY Patil is already an established and well acclaimed sporting venue. Pawar said he was seeking his seventh term to ensure Wankhede didn't lose its international eminence.
According to Pawar, the MCA stood to "suffer a loss of R 2 lakh per match," if IPL games were played at DY Patil stadium. While Pawar, a former BCCI president, was playing the Wankhede card, Patil has a "new vision" in mind and that includes improving cricket infrastructure.
"To conduct international matches at the DY Patil Stadium is not the only motive for which I am contesting. I had started stadium work in 1990 when Sharad Pawar was not even in the MCA... I am contesting for the betterment of cricket, not only for having some matches at DY Patil Stadium. Since 2004, when the stadium was constructed, we have been allotted only one Ranji Trophy match," Patil told Mid Day.
Patil has certainly robbed Pawar of some sleep. He entered the MCA as the first independent to get elected as a vice-president. He got re-elected two years in the same position. This time, he is heading a full panel of members who will contest all the 17 positions up for grabs.
Shiv Sena boss and cricket lover Uddhav Thackeray and his son, Aditya, are actively involved in the MCA elections. Mumbai South Central MP, Rahul Shewale and Thane MLA Pratap Sarnaik, both from the Sena, have staked their claim for the two vice-president posts from the Patil panel.
BJP is supporting the Pawar group. Mumbai's BJP chief and MLA Ashish Shelar is on the Pawar panel for the post of vice-president. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has even met the Pawar group panel at his official residence, Varsha.
That one of the premier units of the BCCI is in the iron grips of political leaders is clear. Mumbai have produced a slew of legends in Indian cricket. Ironically, only one man - former skipper Dilip Vengsarkar - is contesting for the vice-president's post on the Pawar panel.
There is no guarantee that 59-year-old Vengsarkar, who has scored 17 centuries in 116 Tests, will muster the necessary numbers to win an election. Four years ago, he lost the presidential elections to former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. He was left heart-broken but wish to return this time leaning on Pawar's powerful shoulders.