Mallya
to contest Goa cricket polls
Sandesh Prabhudesai
13 April 2003
Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron-turned politician from Karnataka,
is planning to contest elections of the Goa Cricket Association.
"He has agreed in principle to contest, though details
are yet to be worked out", confirms Dr Shekhar Salkar,
who has openly waged a war against GCA president Dayanand
Narvekar, the opposition Congress deputy leader.
Though Mallya is presently hobnobbing from one Janata faction
to another, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party here appears
to be quite comfortable with him, to head the GCA, in order
to counter all-powerful Narvekar.
Narvekar, as the GCA head, is presently facing court cases
for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore tickegate scam
that had rocked the nation due to sale of bogus tickets at
the ODI played between India and Australia in Goa on 6 April
2001. However, he is still going strong in the local cricket
politics.
Salkar, the local BJP functionary, has now requested Mallya
to come for the rescue, as the liquor baron has 'financial
capacity' to fight Narvekar. Nobody is otherwise prepared
to take head on with Narvekar, who is considered a mastermind
politician.
Mallya's name came to the fore as he spends most of his leisure
time in the palacious house he has built in the tourist state.
He is also planning to float his Janata faction in the state,
headed by former Assembly speaker and educationist Surendra
Sirsat.
Though Salkar's faction is having only 33 clubs with them
out of total 88, the young BJP functionary feels confident
of winning over at least 15 fence-sitters on their side by
playing Mallya factor. With nominations closing on 15 April,
the elections will be held on 27 April.
He has also offered to officially pass on at least Rs one
lakh towards fixed deposit to each club, if his group is elected
to power, to make all the poor clubs self-sufficient. The
Narvekar faction however claims that they are already in possession
of blank proxies from majority of the clubs.
Mallya, who is already the vice president of the Indian Football
Association, is apparently looking at the opportunity to enter
the BCCI at national level, by taking advantage of the local
problems in Goa, a tiny state that hardly shines in cricket
otherwise.
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