Lalit Modi promises transparency and thanks Pawar for support after reinstatement as RCA President

Jaipur: Controversial former IPL czar Lalit Modi and his team are all set to resume their charges at the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) after rival group’s Amin Pathan officially withdrew his ‘No Confidence Motion’ on Wednesday, brought in to remove the four office-bearers. Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra today met the officials of the district cricket associations said:“The 15 districts, who had moved a ‘No Confidence Motion’ against Lalit Modi and three other office bearers had decided to withdraw the motion in “interest of the game”. [caption id=“attachment_2422452” align=“alignleft” width=“296”] File picture of Lalit Modi. Getty[/caption] “So there was no need to go with the process of no confidence motion. Lalit Modi faction was the elected through proper election and since the no confidence motion has been withdrawn status quo is in place,” Justice Mishra further stated in his media briefing. All the district associations were present in the meeting and supported the withdrawal of the application by Amin Pathan. It is learnt that Pathan group had allegedly resorted to muscle power to take control of the RCA office. They reportedly pelted stones on buses carrying Lalit Modi supporters but in the end, could not muster the 2/3rd majority required, to get the fresh motion passed through the 33 affiliated units of Rajasthan CA. According to sources, it is learnt that fear of failing prompted Pathan faction to backtrack and save face by claiming that they have withdrawn the motion in “interest of game”. Lalit Modi, who is facing a life ban from BCCI was elected as president of RCA despite warnings of severe consequences by the apex cricket body in country and later RCA was suspended and was also left out of the domestic cricket calendar. A High Court order had paved the way for Rajasthan plyers to play in the domestic competitions with senior cricket administrator Amrit Mathur appointed as co-ordinator by the court with consent of the BCCI. Little change is expected on ground situation as RCA still faces suspension from BCCI and court had specifically said that the arrangement regarding the appointment of co-ordinator and the selection of Team Rajasthan would continue till the dispute between the RCA and the BCCI. However the decision might give fresh lease of life to Lalit Modi’s aspirations of getting into the mainstream of cricket and that might be a reason that we have not heard of any of the fireworks through tweets from the ex-IPL supremo who lives in exile as he is facing a horde of cases including that of ED. With decks cleared for him to continue as president of RCA, Lalit Modi in a series of tweets spoke about making the state association “transparent”. “Will be transparent in all our dealings and create every opportunity for our cricketers to flourish. Cricket in #RCA will always be FIRST!,” Modi, who is currently based out of London, said in one of his tweets. Modi also thanked former BCCI Chief Sharad Pawar for saying that the credit for IPL’s success should go to Lalit Modi in an interview to NDTV. “I am thankful to #sharadpawar for his support and kind words on my reelection back as President of #RCA - Rajasthan Cricket Association,” Modi tweeted. With Team Rajasthan being fielded under BCCI banner, Modi said that he will work to regain RCA’s lost pride. “Will work towards retaining top #Cricket association tag for #RCA and leading the way in organizational efficiency & commitment,” he said. He also spoke about improving infrasructure. “Will create a #HighPerformanceCenter in #Rajasthan & put a 100-Day mission document to effect changes & make up for lost time for cricketers,” he tweeted. “Install Talent Resource Development Wing in #Rajasthan to unearth new talent from districts & produce national level cricketers in 2-3 yrs. There will be infrastructural improvements, talent identification & enrichment programs. Will improve support mechanism & focus on execution,” he also added. PTI