RCA Modi-fied: Rungtas run out on 38

Modi, an industrialist and entrepreneur, defeated Kishore Rungta 20-12 to be elected president of the RCA. Dr Bimal Soni, who till recently was a close confidant of the Rungtas but had fallen out, was elected deputy president.

So complete was the win that the Rungtas lost all the seats to which elections were held under the directives of the Supreme Court.

Soon after his victory, Modi outlined his agenda: putting the state — which, he pointed out, hasn’t had a player on the Indian team since the 1970s — back on the national map. For that, he said, he’d made infrastructure creation, coaching facilities and employment generation as the key areas.

He began by promising free insurance for the state’s past and current Ranji players, calling it the first of the corporate partnerships planned by the RCA.

Though Modi would now assume control of the RCA, his election will depend on the outcome of a petition challenging the constitution under which the elections were held. The petition will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court after three weeks.

The RCA elections were held after a spate of controversies triggered by the State Government’s decision to regulate sports. The government had issued an Ordinance to that purpose in September.

The ordinance, which has now been tabled in the Assembly in the form of a Bill likely to be passed tomorrow, had taken away the voting rights of individual members and instead given the 32 district associations the right to select the state executive.

The Rungtas, who had for years ruled the RCA on the basis of the individual members, many of whom were family members, had protested the ordinance. One of the individual members had taken the matter to the SC, saying the ordinance deprived them of their fundamental rights.

In an interim judgment earlier this month, the Supreme Court had ordered fresh elections for the RCA under the new arrangement. The Court had, however, also allowed individual members to cast their votes, saying that their votes would be counted only if a petition challenging the ordinance is upheld by it.

In accordance with the decision, while the votes of the district associations were counted on Monday, the individual ballots were sealed and sent to the Supreme Court.

Third Time Lucky
Monday’s win was third time lucky for Lalit Modi. After trying to get into the Indian cricket fold from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, Modi finally managed from Rajasthan. He first hit the national headlines with his failed attempt to represent Rajasthan Cricket Association during the BCCI polls last year. His other claim to fame is his TV avatar: His Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) introduced the pay channel concept to India and he’s also responsible for bringing ESPN and Fashion TV to the country. He has friends in high places, including PCA president (and staunch Dalmiya critic) I S Bindra, the Scindias and steel baron Laxmi Mittal.