Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was on Sunday unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and ex-Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Jagdale as president after state minister Kailash Vijayvargiya provided unexpected support to Scindia's side.
"I am happy that this time the MPCA's biennial polls were held unanimously and for that Vijayvargiya deserves honour and respect," Scinida told reporters after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the prestigious cricket body.
Along with Scindia, other office-bearers of the MPCA executive body were also elected unopposed during the annual general body meeting held at Maharani Usharaje Stadium here.
In the past two elections, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader of the state and Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration and Development (UAD) Minister of Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet Kailash Vijayvargiya had been challenging Scindia for the post of MPCA president but faced defeat on both occasions.
In 2010, Scindia defeated Vijayvargiya by more than 70 votes out of total 216. In 2012, the former Union minister and now Guna MP had beaten Vijayvargiya by 77 votes out of 223.
During Sunday's meeting, Vijayvargiya supported the candidature of Scindia as the MPCA president.
Scindia presented the name of proposed executive body wherein he would become the Chairman while former BCCI member Sanjay Jagdale would be its president. The Scindia panel sought that Vijayvargiya support the proposal following which the minister consented.
Earlier, supporters of both Scindia and Vijayvargiya arrived at the stadium before the meeting began. The district administration had clamped Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure at a distance of 200 metres from the meeting venue.
The other office-bearers who were also elected unopposed include vice-presidents Ashok Jagdale, Narendra Hirwani and NK Bhargava, secretary Milind Kanmadikar, co-secretary Pankaj Pandey and Sandeep Munge, treasurer Praveen Kaslival, executive members Karan Singh Shekhawat, Prem Patel, Raju Singh Chouhan and Ravi Bhaskar. Vijayvargiya said on the occasion that his group's senior cricketers expressed a desire to end the "bitterness" between the two camps and therefore, decided not to contest the MPCA polls.
The minister also said that during the AGM he proposed the name of Scindia as president, but he (Scindia) backed Jagdale for the post following which he also supported the candidature of former BCCI secretary.