Ajit Pawar to be Maha Olympic Association president for fourth time after deal with Mohol

Pawar was elected unopposed after minister of state for civil aviation and BJP MP Murlidhar Mohol withdrew from the fray

Mumbai: Deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar was on Sunday elected as the president of the Maharashtra Olympic Association (MOA) for the fourth consecutive time. Pawar was elected unopposed after minister of state for civil aviation and BJP MP Murlidhar Mohol withdrew from the fray.

Ajit Pawar (Hindustan Times)

Mohol backed out following a settlement with Pawar, which will see him replace the deputy chief minister as MOA president during the latter half of the four-year term, sources told Hindustan Times. Members from the panel backed by Mohol will also be accommodated within the MOA as part of the settlement, they said.

“Pawar and Mohol came to an understanding about the MOA president’s post only after the intervention of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis,” an official familiar with the matter told HT, requesting anonymity.

Fadnavis held a meeting with the two leaders last week to ensure no friction over the election, the official added.

Mohol confirmed the same while addressing reporters after the election results were announced.

“We decided to come together and not to fight against each other after CM Fadnavis intervened. The four-year term will be split between Ajit Pawar and me,” he said.

A statement released by Pawar’s office also confirmed that he and Mohol would take turns to head the MOA.

“To ensure continued cooperation within the Mahayuti alliance, discussions were held with CM Fadnavis, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare, resulting in an agreement to allocate some key posts within the association to the panel backed by Muralidhar Mohol,” the statement said.

Pawar had to concede to the power-sharing arrangement despite having the support of at least 22 members in the 31-member sports federation, sources said.

Pawar, while speaking to reporters, said he was elected unopposed by moving a resolution.

“This was done to give importance to sports over everything else,” he said. Out of the 60 members in the MOA, 28 were elected on Sunday as per the agreement between the two leaders, he noted. Mohol was elected senior vice-president of the MOA alongside Adil Sumariwala, Pradeep Gandhe and Prashant Deshpande from the Pawar-led panel. The remaining members would be selected following discussions with Fadnavis, Pawar said.

Responding to questions about graft charges against Mohol, levelled MOA secretary Namdev Shirgaonkar ahead of the polls, the BJP MP said, “There is no politics in it. Whatever wrong happened in the past has gone before the court and the verdict will soon.”