Poonam Mahajan becomes the first woman president of Maharashtra State Basketball Association

Poonam Mahajan - a Member of Parliament from Mumbai North Central and a politician of the BJP - was voted in unanimously as the new president of the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA) during the Annual General Meeting of the association on Sunday, January 18th. Mahajan becomes the first women to be MSBA president in the association's 65-year history, reported The Times of India.

Mahajan succeeds outgoing MSBA president Jaidev Shroff to the post, who now becomes the MSBA's chairman. The previous chairman of the MSBA was M Venkatesh.

Mahajan told The Times of India that her plans for the MSBA include providing support for the players and improving basketball infrastructure in the state.

"It is quite amazing to see basketball being played across all villages in Maharashtra. Basketball has been my favourite sport since childhood and I am very fortunate to lead MSBA," she said.

"The challenges are enormous but with my experience, I will be able to meet them. It will be my endeavour to take the game to even greater heights with the help of all my colleagues in MSBA."

Maharashtra has some of the richest basketball culture in all of the country, featuring well-organized district, state, college, and school tournaments as well as playing host to some of India's best national invitational tournaments, like the Savio Cup and the Ramu Memorial Basketball Tournament. Kudos to Mahajan for breaking a gender barrier in the MSBA fraternity, but how much sense does it make to hand someone with no basketball playing/operational experience (except for it being her "favourite" sport) to lead the basketball association of the entire state?

Basketball in Maharashtra has not been without its turmoil over the past year. In November, the MSBA faced protest from several district associations from the state in the form of a letter requesting for a removal of MSBA officials for causing irregularities, miscommunication, and the misuse of power. That letter was sent to the media by Shatrughan Gokhale, the secretary of the Nagpur District Basketball Association. After the most recent AGM on Sunday, Gokhale was named one of the five vice-presidents of the MSBA.

Maharashtra State Basketball Association facing protest from district associations

10 district associations in the state of Maharashtra have joined hands to protest against the Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA), requesting for a removal of MSBA officials for causing irregularities, miscommunication, and the misuse of power. The protest was raised by Shatrughan Gokhale, the secretary of the Nagpur District Basketball Association, in an open letter to the MSBA sent via the media. The letter comes out at a curious time, when Maharashtra's Nashik district is hosting the 41st Sub-Jr National Basketball Championship.

In his letter, Gokhale alleges that several MSBA officials have refused to give up their seats long after the mandatory end to their maximum four-year term and not conducted enough management committee meetings in the past year.

Gokhale's district of Nagpur, along with Bhandara, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Wardha, Amravati, Yoetmal, Washim, Akola, and Buldhana have joined hands officially in the protest. The letter further states that up to five more districts will be joining the dissenting group over the coming days, and memorandums will be sent to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Maharashtra Olympic Association (MOA), and the Director of Sports, Pune.

Some excerpts from Gohkale's letter, via Ekalavyas.com

A managing committee meeting is required to decide and conduct the state championships in various age categories, to appoint selection committee and coaches for the national championships, to maintain and pass the regular accounts of association, to discuss and decide on the grievances of players, coaches and various districts and many similar issues.With just two managing committee meetings in its four-year term the MSBA failed to perform the basic responsibility required to run any association.

Our decision to start this drive now is because all the state tournaments being conducted under the banner of MSBA after its term expired in April are unauthorized. Being an affiliated unit we do not have a choice but to play in these unauthorized championships. If we do not participate then our players will be at loss. With no choice left we all decided to start this drive.

Read the full letter here for more of the group's demands to the MSBA.