KATHMANDU, Sept 29: Chatur Bahadur Chand and his panel have been re-elected in the central governing body of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), during elections held on the final day of the association's Special General Meeting held in Kathmandu on Saturday.
Chand defeated his opponent Binay Raj Pandey by 29 votes.
Chand vowed to end stagnation in the CAN, avoid any further controversy, and work for development of sports in the country.
"Our first priority is to reinstate the CAN from International Cricket Council (ICC). The governing body will work in a transparent way. Respecting the spirit of the federal structure of the country, province-level cricket will be prioritized and promoted."
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Chand will re-take his position after more than three years of suspension enforced by the ICC in April 2016 following the government interference in the country's cricketing body.
The ICC had formed an Independent Panel to see through the election process in Nepal before the CAN could officially apply for ICC's reinstatement. The ICC is set to conduct a general meeting on October 13, in which the apex international body will give its verdict on the Nepali cricket body.
In the elections, Chand garnered 44 votes, while Pandey was only able to get 15, which saw Chand get the post for second straight term.
Likewise, Ashok Nath Pyakurel has been elected as the general secretary collecting 43 votes against Binod Kumar Mainali’s 15. Similarly, Roshan Kumar Singh garnered 45 votes compared to Upendra Bhattarai’s 12 to hold the treasurer’s role in the body. Raju Babu Shrestha, who collected 40 votes, will deputize Chand defeating Mingma Dandu Sherpa, who collected 17.
Also, Jayanti Bhatta, the sole woman representative, was elected unanimously as one of the 17 working committee members.
A total of 29 people fought for the other 16 spots.
In a closely fought contest of the day, Kailash Bista, son of former National Sports Council Member-Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista, with 37 votes overcame Lakpa Lama, who collected 21 votes, for the membership of Province 1.
Similarly, Amit Bir Pandey won the Province 3 membership overcoming Kailash Pradhan. The contestants collected 39 and 19 votes respectively.
One candidate each from Province 2, Gandaki Province and Province 5 were also elected as the state members unanimously.
Province 2’s Mohammad Daud Ansari, Gandaki’s Rishi Ram Gautam, Province 5’s Prashant Bikram Malla, Karnali Province’s Padam Bahadur Khadka, Sudur Paschim Province’s Bikram Bista were elected as the state members unanimously.
Among open members who contested for the remaining spots in the 17-person working committee, Province 3’s Durga Raj Pathak (42 votes), Sudur Paschim’s Birendra Bahadur Chand (36 votes), Province 2’s Madhav Kumar Karmacharya (35 votes), Province 5’s Sanjay Raj Singh (34 votes) and Province 3’s Karan Mahotra Chhetri (30 votes) overwhelmed Sudur Paschim’s Dhirendra Saud (28 votes), former head coach of Nepal cricket team Jagat Bahadur Tamata (15 votes), president of Lalitpur Cricket Association Naresh Rana (17 votes), former Nepal cricket team captain Pawan Agrawal (20 votes), former national player Prafulla Vaidya (16 votes) and Province 1’s Arjun Paudel (14 votes), respectively. [one name missing among the winners.]
A total of 59 eligible voters cast their votes on Saturday for the association's new leadership. The CAN Special General Meeting had kicked off on Friday.
Independent Panel members Amar Sheikh, Mohammad Ali, Neeteesha Kothari, Lekh Bahadur Chhetri, Thakur Pratap Singh, and NSC’s superintendents Narayan Raj Aryal and Gyanendra Shrestha approved the results on Saturday.
