Narvekar says that he will be acquitted in 'ticketgate' scam

Former Goa finance minister as well as former Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) Vice President Dayanand Narvekar said here today that he would be acquitted in the fake ticket scam that rocked the 2001 India-Australia cricket match.
The former Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president who has worked with Jagmohan Dalmiya became controversial after tickets outnumbered the number of seats during the India-Australia one day international cricket match played in 2001 at Fatorda's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
"People remember me for ticketgate. I remain personally present there (in court) because I am lawyer by profession. I know that the court will acquit me," said Narvekar, who recently left the Congress to contest as an independent from the North Goa Lok Sabha seat on the 'kite' symbol.

The Goa state government had filed a case against Narvekar and others in the ticket scam and the case is before the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Margao.
The former GCA president had received a shot in the arm when he was granted anticipatory bail by the high court which had ruled that "there is no needle of suspicion pointing out towards him".
"I am back in politics after a gap of two years. People have no axe to grind about me, but they are raising irrelevant issues like the ticket scam," Narvekar said, as he went around distributing leaflets of his election manifesto and canvassing for himself in the Mapusa market.

Narvekar who heads recently formed Goa Democratic Front (GDF) expects to spring a surprise and defeat candidates put up by the Congress, BJP and AAP.
"I am completely banking on the goodwill I gathered during three decades of my political career," he said.