Congress unites to beat Modi in bitter RCA poll

JAIPUR: The battle for Rajasthan Cricket Association turned out to be a proxy war between Congress and BJP for political supremacy with a united Congress finally coming out trumps.
Union minister for rural development and panchayati raj CP Joshi defeated IPL architect Lalit Modi - who is known to be close to former CM Vasundhara Raje - in a tough contest on Monday that was marked by clashes between Youth Congress workers and supporters of Modi.
The battle for control of the cricket body took sharp political overtones when chief minister Ashok Gehlot intervened on Sunday and got his supporter Shivcharan Mali to leave the arena, paving the way for Joshi’s 19-13 victory. Mali may now be made chairman of the sports council as compensation.
Had Gehlot not intervened, the match could have swung Modi’s way, with those opposed to him getting split between Joshi and Mali. The CM, who has baited Modi several times because of the latter’s proximity to Raje, could not have allowed the IPL boss to regain a foothold in Rajasthan.
But by ensuring the win of Joshi, with whom he has an uneasy equation, by getting one of his confidantes to leave the ring, Gehlot can hope to acquire the "first among-equals" slot in the state Congress. To many, the pecking order has seemed blurred since Joshi was made a central minister and given charge of the crucial rural development portfolio.
Second blow for Modi
Union minister for rural development and panchayati raj CP Joshi is the new Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) president. Joshi has joined a procession of politicians - including Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Congress’s deputy chief whip in RS, Rajiv Shukla and BJP MP Anurag Thakur - who are doubling as cricket administrators.
Shiv Charan Mali withdrew his nomination at the last moment on Saturday: 15 minutes past the 5 pm deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
The sequence of events clearly pointed to the involvement of chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who was, it is said, told by the Congress leadership that the defeat of a central minister on his turf would be seen as a personal setback.
For Modi, the defeat came as a second blow this year in Rajasthan. In March, he had lost the RCA polls, but he again took a chance. His calculations, it seems, were based on Mali’s candidature, which would have ensured a three-way split in the 32 votes in RCA. Confident of holding on to his own supporters, Modi thought that split in the opposition camp would allow him to scrape through. As in March, when he lost to Sanjay Dixit, he again got 13 votes.
Mali, a Congress worker since 1989, is known for his closeness to Gehlot. He also has more support among members of the RCA than Joshi whose interest in cricket administration is of recent vintage. He, however, had to make way for Joshi for the sake of the chief minister.
Both Gehlot and Mali are from the same caste (Mali). And had Mali stayed in the fray and Joshi lost, the blame for the Union minister’s defeat would have landed at Gehlot’s door. The move - to get Mali to withdraw - also offered Gehlot the opportunity to showcase unity in Congress ranks and clear ‘misgivings’ about his differences with Joshi.
"Willingly or unwillingly, Gehlot had to accept the growing clout of Joshi to defeat a bigger enemy and to maintain unity in the ruling party," said a Congress leader.
Interestingly, while the entire Congress was on Monday celebrating Joshi’s victory, missing from the scene was Shivcharan Mali, whose camp feels that he deserved better. "Mali remained in contention till the last moment as he was not convinced about the candidature of Joshi, who has done nothing for cricket in the state," said a Mali supporter.
He said Mali was involved with Rajasthan cricket for the past 30 years and was deputy president in the previous RCA committee. "Mali had formed Sawai Madhopur Cricket Association in 1979-80 at a time when cricket in Rajasthan was known as a game for royals," he added.
He claimed that it was the chief minister himself who coaxed Mali to withdraw the nomination. "The chief minister had a very emotional talk with Mali after which the latter had no option but to withdraw. We are now waiting for the state government to appoint him (Mali) the chairman of the state sports council."