Sports council takes over reins of RCA activities
The Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSSC) on Thursday took over the reins of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), which is plagued by a longstanding dispute between two factions, one known as Lalit Modi group and another as CP Joshi group, which want to control the state cricket body.
Additional chief secretary, principal secretary of sports and youth affairs and RSSC chairman JC Mohanti issued the order for taking over the possession of RCA’s north, south and east pavilion at the SMS stadium besides the cricket ground. Thereafter, RSSC secretary Narayan Singh Shekhawat also issued an order to appoint a threemember committee to take over the RCA charge.
“Yes, we have constituted a committee with senior sports officer Mahesh Saini, public relation officer Tejraj Singh and sports officer Subret Sen. The committee will do whatever is required to take over the RCA charge,” said Narayan Singh.
Sports council PRO Tejraj Singh said, “We have locked the south pavilion, north pavilion and also taken charge of east pavilion. RCA secretary and treasurer signed over the takeover and handed over papers.”
The government took over the RCA control, as the MoU to manage the cricket related activities lasted on May 19, but it could be extended due to the factional fight between the two groups.
RCA secretary Rajendra Singh Nandu, who belongs to the Lalit Modi group, said, “We are a unit to work for the development of cricket in the state, but for some time, they (CP Joshi faction) do not want to work together.”
He said the MoU lasted on February 28, but Rajasthan high court had extended the MoU till IPL matches, that is, until May 19. “We got two-three letters from the government and I had requested (RCA) president CP Joshi and told him about the MoU expiry. But despite repeated requests, he was stuck in his party politics,” said Nandu.
“I received the government order and as per the direction, I asked the whole staff to vacate the premises. I will request the government about extending the MoU,” he added.
Treasurer Pinkesh Jain, who also belongs to the Lalit Modi group, said, “Joshi never cared about extending the MoU. He remained busy doing illegal work in the RCA. RCA office became a Congress office. We tried to extend the MoU, but failed.”
RCA joint secretary Mahendra Nahar, who is belongts to the Joshi faction, said, “We are not responsible for this (take over by goverment). We had formed a three-member MoU committee naming Amin Pathan, Mahendra Sharma and one more name in the committee. We would have met JC Mohanti on Monday, but the government took over possession of the RCA. Now, we will meet tomorrow (Friday) or Monday,” he said. It may be mentioned here that Nandu had locked the RCA office three days ago and thereafter Joshi faction’s executive committee members had broke the lock and entered the office. Joshi faction had also removed Pinkesh Jain from the post of treasure and appointed Azad Singh in his place.
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