NAGPUR: Six months after getting elected as treasurer of Badminton Association of India (BAI), Arun Lakhani has been re-elected as the president of Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) in a much talked about election held in the city on Sunday.
The panel led by Lakhani registered a thumping win over Pradeep Gandhe's panel. Barring the tournament secretary's post, none of the 25 posts that went to the polls went to Gandhe's kitty.
Lakhani, who is known for his organizational skills and connections, outclassed Gandhe, a former international shuttler, by garnering 37 votes out of 52. Lakhani has been elected for yet another 4-year term after a majority of 35 affiliated districts supported him.
Though it was a cakewalk for the president's post, the election of deputy president became interesting, where Akshay Dewalkar (27 votes) defeated Mangrish Palekar of Gandhe's panel by just two votes.
The only success Gandhe could taste on the day was of Ashish Bajpai's one-vote win, with 26 votes, over Mayur Ghatnekar for tournament secretary's post.
Pankaj Thakur, a former vice president of Mumbai Cricket Association, will be one of the six vice-presidents in MBA for the next term.
Newly-elected body
President: Arun Lakhani;
Deputy president: Akshay Dewalkar;
Senior vice-president: Shirish Boralkar;
Vice-president: Pradip Gabada, Sudhir Hari, Onkar Hazare, Mangesh Kashikar, Mohan Shah, Pankaj Thakur;
General Secretary: Shrikant Vad;
Joint secretary: Siddharth Patil;
Tournament's secretary: Ashish Bajpai;
Treasurer: Jagdish Joshi;
Secretary coaching: Jovel Chandekar;
Executive members: Nogiji Chilkarwar, Dinesh Dhoot, Nitin Gabhane, Prasad Gokhale, Mahendra Himane, Nandkishor Ingole, Vinit Joshi, Chandrahas Kanhare, Milind Kulkarni, Vijay Palaskar, Ajinkya Patil.
