MCA election delay may stall Pawar's return

The Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) decision to hold its elections after the BCCI's annual general meeting may stall Sharad Pawar's anticipated return to cricket administration as he won't be able to represent his home association at the 2013 board meeting. Pawar, who has headed the ICC, BCCI and MCA and is currently a senior minister in India's federal government, was reportedly eyeing a return to Mumbai cricket administration.

The MCA usually conducts its elections in July but interim president Ravi Savant - who has also taken charge as the interim BCCI treasurer - scheduled the elections for after the BCCI AGM in the last week of September. "Now that he won't be able to represent the MCA at the BCCI AGM, it is not sure if he will indeed contest the (MCA) elections," a source close to Pawar said.

However, Pawar can contest the BCCI's elections - which will take place during the AGM - even without contesting the MCA polls. According to the BCCI rules, a presidential candidate has to have attended at least two AGMs and should have been a principal office-bearer in the past. A recent amendment to the BCCI constitution says that if Pawar is to contest the September election, he needs a proposer and a seconder from the South zone.*

It is understood that Pawar is keen on attending the BCCI AGM. His presence could have made a difference in the working of the BCCI, seemingly divided in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the IPL. Should he stand for elections - it is a long shot at this point - the opposition towards N Srinivasan's tenure as BCCI president would have grown. Pawar's absence could help Srinivasan extend his tenure by another year without much difficulty.

The IPL was launched during Pawar's three-year tenure as the BCCI president. It was Pawar who had approved India Cements to own an IPL team (Chennai Super Kings). Srinivasan is the vice chairman and managing director of India Cements and was the BCCI treasurer when the IPL was launched. Once Pawar handed over the BCCI charge to Shashank Manohar before heading the ICC, Srinivasan was elevated as the BCCI secretary.

It was during that time that apparent cracks emerged in Pawar's relationship with Srinivasan. While Srinivasan and a few others in the board were unhappy with Pawar virtually giving the IPL founding chairman Lalit Modi a free run with the conduct of the multi-million dollar T20 league, Srinivasan vehemently opposed some of the ICC initiatives, with DRS leading the way. It is believed that it was on Srinivasan's insistence that the Indian team boycotted the ICC Awards in London in September 2011, an embarrassment for Pawar given that his country skipped the function during his tenure as ICC president.

Meanwhile, the already postponed MCA elections may be delayed further after a request from a group of Muslim representatives. A day after Savant announced October 18 as the election date (usually held in July every two years), Shah Alam, secretary of the Mazgaon Cricket Club, met Savant and submitted an application on behalf of around 25 Muslim club representatives.

"Since Bakri Eid is slated either for October 16 or 17 and the festival involves three days of religious ceremonies and fasts, we request you to further postpone the elections by another week," Alam wrote. "The election has already been delayed by three months so another week's delay won't make much of a difference."

Savant had announced on Monday that Pawar had expressed his intention to return at the helm of MCA's affairs. A group of MCA administrators have been trying to pursue Pawar, who handed over the reins to union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in July 2011, to return to MCA after the latter's death last August.

Irrespective of whether Pawar enters the fray or not, the MCA elections are likely to see at least three panels contesting for the office bearers' and managing committee members' posts. The ruling Bal Mahaddalkar group, led by Savant, is set to contest for all the posts. The Dilip Vengsarkar panel, that has the second largest representation in the managing committee, is set to pitch the former India captain for the president's post for the second time in succession. The Vijay Patil faction, led by the incumbent vice-president, is also likely to contest for all the posts.

There is a possibility of a fourth group emerging in case Prof Ratnakar Shetty's suspension is stayed by the civil court. The former vice-president, who had lost to Savant in the race for interim president, has challenged his expulsion for five years in the court and the matter is sub-judice.

* - 1000 GMT, August 14, 2013 - Story updated to reflect that Sharad Pawar can indeed attend the AGM