Jagmohan Dalmiya wins election

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council, won a close election and will continue as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal.

Dalmiya, who was given a run for his money by Prasun Mukherjee, the police commissioner of Kolkata, won the election by the margin of 61 votes to 56. A total of 117 people voted, representing various clubs, with the representative from the Ananda Bazaar Patrika Sports Club not turning up to cast his vote. Mukherjee was backed by Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, but could not garner enough votes to defeat Dalmiya.

"I am happy that I have got a platform that I badly needed," Dalmiya said soon after the results were announced. Dalmiya was referring to the fact that the BCCI have banned him from attending board meetings, withheld CAB subsidies and alleged financial irregularities. Appearing along with Mukherjee, who accepted the defeat gracefully, Dalmiya added, "the election result was a victory for cricket. We will work together from tomorrow. There is no enmity between me and Prasun Mukherjee."

Mukherjee then responded by saying, "it was a close contest, but a gentlemanly and friendly fight. It was a fair election. Nobody had anything to complain about. I would have enjoyed winning, but, nonetheless I acept the result." He was also quick to add, "Dalmiya is an old hand at cricket administration. Cricket has won. I'm new to the game. But I'll be back next time."

Dalmiya has been the president of the CAB since 1992-93, and has never lost an election of any kind. This time around, however, the battle was especially hard, with several quarters joining ranks to oppose Dalmiya. First there was the request from the chief minister asking Dalmiya not to contest. Then came the email from Sourav Ganguly damning Dalmiya for his alleged role in leaking a confidential email to the press and thereby hastening Ganguly's exit. In fact, the elections had become so politicised that the ruling Left Front and Communist Party of India (Marxist) were split on whom to support.

In the end, though, Dalmiya came through, and also ensured that other members of his camp won the posts they were contesting for. Saradindu Pal and Amitava Banerjee, both from the Dalmiya camp, were elected joint secretaries defeating Raja Venkat and Samar Pal. While Pal sailed through with 71 votes, Banerjee secured 60. SK Kalyani, another of Dalmiya's allies, retained the treasurer's post, beating Tushar Kanti Sarkar.