As MCA elections loom, Pawar brings up Wankhede vs DY Patil stadium conflict

On Wednesday, 17 June Mumbai Cricket Association’s current President and NCP chief Sharad Pawar will be contesting an MCA election for the first time in over a decade. This time around Cricket First group’s Vijay Patil, backed by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, is taking on Pawar for the post of MCA’s President. [caption id=“attachment_2203720” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pawar brings up the Wankhede (in picture) vs DY Patil issue in the lead up to MCA elections. AFP Photos.[/caption] The field of contestants carries a mix of former cricketers and active politicians. There are multiple political angles to the election contest, with Patil’s group fielding two Shiv Sena leaders, Pratap Sarnaik and Rahul Shewale, for posts of vice president and member of management committee respectively. BJP’s Mumbai chief Ashish Selar, meanwhile, is also contesting for the Vice President’s post from the Pawar-camp. With elections barely a couple of days away, both groups are busy ensuring the State’s political bigwigs are behind their respective candidates. Uddhav Thackeray, who Patil refers to as a ‘cricket-lover’ who cares deeply about Mumbai’s cricket, was supposed to meet mediapersons on Sunday but could not. However, he spoke to the voters and requested them to back the Cricket First panel, reported the Times of India. The Sena chief is expected to brief the media on Monday, the report added. In a report published in Mid-Day, Thackeray is believed to have told his partymen - who could reportedly account for 60-80 votes out of 329 - to only vote for the Cricket First group. “This is my panel. I want each and everyone to support this panel wholeheartedly. If they don’t win, I will blame you all,” Thackeray reportedly said. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on the other hand, met 16 members of the Sharad Pawar faction and some 20-odd members of government institutions who are eligible to vote. The Chief Minister’s decision to privately address select members of the Pawar- Mahaddalkar group raised a few eyebrows, leading to questions of State throwing their weight behind one group. “If you are thinking of developing the MCA then you need to bring the other group on board as well. It’s unfair,” Shripad Halbe – one of the invitees to the meeting – told CM Devendra Fadnavis, as reported by the Times of India. The CM’s involvement means the election is also shaping into a Shiv Sena versus BJP tussle. Patil, however, avoided terming it a political battle. In a report published by DNA India, Patil said, “I have never been a part of an electoral process, except in the MCA. I am not into politics. It is just that there are a couple of members in our panel from Shiv Sena, my contestant is the chief of a political party, and the vice-president candidate from the other group is from BJP. Hence [politics] is definitely going to be a subject of discussion.” He added that the primary objective for his group his to restore to Mumbai cricket to its glory days and is glad to have the ‘blessings and support of Uddhavji.’ Fadnavis, on his part, distanced himself from Pawar. “I am not supporting Sharad Pawar. My support is for Mumbai BJP president Shelar who is contesting for the post of vice-president and belongs to the Mahaddalkar panel,” Fadnavis told the Times of India. The Patil versus Pawar contest is also shaping up into a DY Patil Stadium versus Wankhede stadium issue. Pawar was recently quoted as saying that he wouldn’t even be contesting this time had Patil agreed to play international matches and IPL games at the Wankhede and not DY Patil. Pawar also went on to say that Mumbai has only two ICC-recognised venues – CCI’s Brabourne and the Wankhede. “We can’t encourage talks about giving IPL matches from which the MCA gets a few lakh rupees per match. If the match is given elsewhere [other than Wankhede and CCI] then MCA will suffer financial loss.” the former BCCI and ICC chief said, according to the Indian Express report. “If this condition would have been accepted, probably I would not have contested also,” Pawar had said. Patil refuted Pawar’s comments, saying they were untrue. “Wankhede is the Mecca of Mumbai and in the last 12-13 years [DY Patil] has hosted just one Ranji Trophy game. When I constructed the stadium, my intentions were not to get benefits, financial or otherwise, from it. In fact it was insurance to Wankhede,” Patil said. Patil also pointed out that his stadium is ICC approved and was supposed to host the India-Australia ODI in 2009 but it was rained out. He called for MCA to give equal attention to affiliated members as well, saying treating the DY Patil as a separate entity is unfair. Vijay Patil also spoke in detail to Firspost about the various issues that are on his agenda if elected as the President. Read the excerpts here .