Cong josh works: Party time at RCA

As the results of RCA polls came in the evening, it was clear that the Congressmen in the state stood united to ensure the election of Union minister C P Joshi in a closely contested battle.
Though the victory margin shows a comfortable 19-13, still the match went down to the wires. Till the final verdict came out, no one was sure which way the results would swing as loyalties continued to switch till the penultimate day.Rajender Rathore, secretary, Jhunjhunu Cricket Association and Shubash Joshi, secretary, Sikar Cricket Association, who were with Joshi at the time of filing nominations, backed out and joined hands with Lalit Modi to keep former president Sanjay Dixit out of the fray. However, in the end, Joshi, with Dixit in tow, managed to sail through.
Now Dixit is the new secretary and Mahendra Singh is the treasurer. Interestingly, both Modi and Dixit factions held on to their core, keeping in tact 12 votes each which they had. The battle could have swung the other way had Shiv Charan Mali, a loyalist of chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who too was in contention till Sunday, not backed out in the last minute.
Meanwhile, the elections took an ugly turn when supporters of both the groups clashed in the venue. Amin Pathan, secretary, Kota Cricket Association, who was going to cast his vote along with secretaries of Jodhpur and Baran cricket associations, entered into a brawl with Joshi supporters.
Reacting to the incident, Modi said: "I don’t see there is any political angle to this unfortunate incident. There is no intervention from the state government and that the arrangement done by them has been good."
However, soon after making this statement, he stepped out only to land in a melee. Joshi too termed the incident unfortunate. After winning the elections, Joshi said his prime task would be to create a conducive atmosphere for the growth of the game.
"Just give us some time and the results will be there for all to see," said a triumphant Joshi as he headed to collect the winning certificate.
Modi later called on Joshi to congratulate him for the victory and wish him luck. Addressing reporters, his aide and president of Sriganganagar Cricket Association, Mehmood Abdi, said: "The election was fair and we congratulate C P Joshi for his victory. However, as conceived by many, these results won’t have any effect on Lalit Modi’s prospects in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The results once again showed that we stood united and that our group didn’t break."