Lalit Modi rises again ~ Rajasthan elects

He is in news and is sought after …. About a couple of years back, there was the news report of wailing sirens - black Mercedes with five cars in tow and a police van ahead sliding  under the flyover outside High Street Phoenix in Lower Parel.  A young boy – son of the man on whom this post is made emerged attired in a white shirt and blue blazer. ~ the man obviously ran a big show and was under security cordon too, following threats. 

Prior to its renaming in 1945, this place was known as Begumabad. One man sowed the seeds of development and progress for the town, which was earlier blighted by underdevelopment and lawlessness. 1933 was a watershed year for the erstwhile town of Begumabad, as the first sign of progress and revitalisation was noticed through the construction of a sugar mill. The man ushered in a grand plan for the once decrepit town; the sugar mill was only the first edifice.  The end of World War II in the year 1945, allowed the British Government to look back at the service provided by the organisations set up by that man and in appreciation,  the British Government decided to confer knighthood on him……..however, the man earnestly urged the British to confer on him the Indian title of Raja Bahadur, instead. As he did not meet up the criteria,  British Government decided to name the colony after him.

The man in news now is undoubtedly a genius when it came to generating revenues, implementing ideas and getting the results on the field. He made truck load of money for BCCI and the people around him. But there was no leash or restraint on his genius. Some times unparalleled power and arrogance lets brightest of minds commit stupidest of mistakes. He committed the cardinal seen of taking the in house secrets to the public domain and paid the price for it. Before moving further the man now we are talking about is Lalit Modi ~ the forefather is Gujarmal Modi ~ the place is Modinagar.  Those following Indian cricket well know the success story of IPL plotted by Lalit – on the same grounds where ICL failed – of course lack of political support and the lucrative board were among the other factors that caused the downfall of ICL……. He made IPL happen and took it to a much higher plane, enriching the coffers of IPL, making money flow and in someway, BCCI rule the International Cricket. Lalit Kumar Modi, (born 1963) is the first commissioner of cricket's Indian Premier League(IPL)  and  was found guilty of committing acts of misconduct and indiscipline resulting in his removal and subsequent lifetime ban by the BCCI. Besides his stint as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League and the Chairman of the Champions League, between 2008 and 2010, he has also occupied the roles of Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), between 2005 and September 2010, and Vice President of the Punjab Cricket Association. Lalit Modi is also the President and Managing Director of Modi Enterprises and the Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India.

The news of the day is ‘Modi being declared Rajasthan Cricket Association President’. The BCCI's interim president Shivlal Yadav responded immediately by suspending the RCA under Rule 32 (vii), board secretary Sanjay Patel said. The election of Modi, who had been expelled by the BCCI in September last year for "acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline", as president of the state association was announced by a court-appointed observer in Jaipur on Tuesday. The polls were conducted in January under the observation of former Justice of the Supreme Court NM Kasliwal, but the results were sealed pending judicial proceedings. On April 30, the Supreme Court had ordered that the results be announced on May 6. When they were released on Tuesday, Modi was declared the winner, having got 24 out of 33 votes - his opponent, Rampal Sharma, won five.

The court said the BCCI - which had earlier filed a petition against Modi having participated in the polls, as well as stated it would "withhold privileges" and financial aid to the RCA should he be named president - could take up the issue in an appropriate forum after the results were announced. The legal dispute around the issue are likely to continue. Modi had entered the RCA polls, despite being banned, through the loophole made available to him by the fact that the RCA is governed by the Rajasthan Sports Act. Modi's allies won all the key posts in the RCA elections: Mehmood M Abdi, Modi's legal counsel, was declared elected as the deputy-president of the RCA, Somendra Tiwari as the new secretary, and Pawan Goyal its treasurer.

Interim president of BCCI - Shivlal Yadav suspended RCA and plans ad-hoc committee to take care of cricket in Rajasthan and workout ways through which Rajasthan could still play.  Modi called the BCCI move "illegal" and said he would challenge it. Sharad Pawar, the former BCCI and ICC president, is quoted as saying that the board's move to suspend the RCA was shocking.

Lalit Modi has risen as a phoenix …. ..lot interesting things are expected more.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

7^th May 2014

Photo credit and news source : cricinfo.com