Sena and BJP netas spar over who is legitimate chief of Maharashtra boxing body

Mumbai: Political punches were exchanged on Thursday between allies Shiv Sena and BJP over who heads the Maharashtra Boxing Association, with BJP MLC Praveen Darekar and former Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale both claiming to be the president of the association. Darekar was elected president in the Nov 2025 Maharashtra Boxing Association elections, in which his panel won all the seats. However, Shewale claimed his panel had been given recognition by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) last month.Darekar said on Thursday that his panel is an elected panel while Shewale has been appointed illegally and Shewale's nomination is bogus."The pending election of Maharashtra Boxing Association was held on Nov 9, 2025, through the charity commissioner's office, Mumbai, as per the order of the high court. The list of the elected executive body in this election was sent to the BFI in Nov last year. So far, BFI has not given a letter of affiliation to this committee. BFI has been misled about the entire situation," Darekar said.Shewale hit back at Darekar and said his claims were not true. "We don't want to bring politics into this. Our association has been given recognition by the BFI. Their election didn't follow the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, hence they were not given recognition by BFI. We are organising the U-17 world boxing championship in Nagpur. We will invite Pravin Darekar there. Let's not bring politics into sports," Shewale said.Darekar said Shewale has no exposure to boxing and that he has come to association for political gains. "He (Shewale) was trying for the Rajya Sabha seat but he was unsuccessful. So he wants to go to Delhi and has taken the boxing association route to go to Delhi," Darekar said.Shewale sai Dy CM Eknath Shinde "was enough" to look after his political career. "I don't need sports to go to Delhi. I'll go to Delhi following the proper process. My son is a boxer, hence it is wrong to say that I am not aware about boxing," Shewale said.The state's sports bodies and associations have always been hotly contested with senior netas often vying for top posts in bodies ranging from cricket to wrestling and even football. In 2005, after cricket, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar entered the wrestling arena as the new president of the Maharashtra State Wrestling Association (MSWA). Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray is the president of Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA). The late Ajit Pawar was re-elected as the president of the Maharashtra Olympic Association for a fourth term in Nov 2025. While some of these bodies have financial muscle, many are known to help netas in political clout and dole out patronage.