Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was today removed as the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) president after a no confidence motion was passed against him by office bearers of the rival Amin Pathan group in an Extra Ordinary General Body Meeting (EGM) here.
The meeting, chaired by Sports Council chairman JC Mahanti, witnessed chaotic scenes after Modi faction alleged that vehicles carrying their voters were attacked by armed hooligans of the rival group.
Many of the district officials were badly hurt and were not allowed to attend the meeting as they were late in arriving at the venue.
On the other hand Mahanti, the Health Secretary and also in charge of Rajasthan's sports department, said that the EGM was conducted under High Court's order dated February 11 and that the meeting started its scheduled time of 11 am.
He said at that point of time out of 33 units only 23 districts were present but 5 were disputed and 17 voted in favour of the no confidence motion while one vote was against it.
Crying foul, Rajendra Singh Rathore, a senior member of the Modi faction and also secretary of Jhunjhunu District Association said that it was a well calculated move.
"We were having support of 17 districts but our buses were intentionally attacked. There was no time frame for getting into the EGM which was scheduled for 11 am to 2 pm. The conditions laid down by the Sports Council said that voting was to be conducted at 12 pm but we were denied entry on pretext that we were late and the result was announced despite the fact that we were sitting right outside the meeting venue," he said.
Asked about the allegations of Modi faction, Mahanti said the meeting had started at 11 am and no one was allowed after that.
"At 11 am there were 23 members present and we took that number and decided the numbers required. Five were disputed and 18 voted out of which 17 were in favour of the motion while one voted against it," he said.
Asked about the attack on some of the vehicles of the district members, Mahanti replied that such things were not in his purview.
"I was assigned a job by the High Court. What happened outside the stadium was not in my jurisdiction. I had received a letter from some of the office bearers regarding attack on them but the court will look into that. The meeting had already started by that time and no one was allowed after that," said Mahanti, who had earlier refused to shoulder the responsibility citing time constraints because of the swine flu influx in the state.
The passing of no confidence motion against Modi, deputy president Mehmood Abdi, secretary Sumendra Tiwary and treasurer Pawan Goyal has paved the way for fresh elections for these top four posts.
The Sports Act of Rajasthan also specifies that all of these four would be debarred from fighting fresh elections.
Pathan, who had led the coup against Modi, said it was a clear victory for his team.
"The EGM was conducted on the High Court order and conducted by the State Sports Council and chaired by its president. There is no room for any controversy. It is the habit of Lalit Modi and his men that they keep on cribbing," he said.
"I had heard in Chennai after the BCCI elections that they (Modi group) were going to challenge that election too. I feel it is a victory of the majority and I hope soon the ban against RCA would be removed by BCCI and Rajasthan cricket would be back on track.
"The new dates for fresh elections for the said posts would be announced soon," added Pathan.
But the matter is expected to get murkier as the Modi faction is all set to challenge the EGM and its outcome.
