After the bitter election campaign and an acrimonious poll day that ended in allegations of rigging, a new set of official bearers will be at the helm of Mumbai Hockey Association. Though, it was a clean sweep that saw the new body come to power, the all-important position of the secretary is still held by Keher Singh, the man who was seen as the enemy No.1 by the challengers.

A few winners and losers spoke toShailendra Awasthi about MHA’s function after the chaotic elections.

I will go to meetings with a positive mind
M M Somaya
(Winning, Committee Member)
These results are good or bad for Mumbai hockey remains to be seen as the new committee is yet to start functioning. As far as these elections are concerned I wasn’t much involved from the beginning, I was just asked to stand for election only few days before the voting.

But I’m aware of the bitterness with which the elections were fought. I know there will be hurdles but I believe in tackling things with open mind. So I will go for the committee meetings with a positive frame of mind. I know one thing if some proposal is good for the sport, I see no reason why there won’t be consensus among the members.

The result is not for the game in the city
Mir Ranjan Negi:
(Losing committee member)
I feel it’s a very confusing mandate for sport in the city. I believe it would have been better if either of the factions managed a total sweep. Both the parties have their own vision to improve the sport in the city and a full mandate would have certainly helped them in implementing their programmers easily. I think such a result is not good either for them and or for the game in the city.

... contd.