Chief Minister Narendra Modi today took over the reins of the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) from Congress after he was elected as its President in the Annual General Meeting of the body.

"At the AGM held at the Motera stadium, Modi was elected the President while Gujarat Minister of state for Home Amit Shah was elected vice president of GCA," sources in the GCA said.

With this win in GCA, Modi is set to enter cricket administration like other politicians including former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar and his own party leader Arun Jaitely, who is currently heading Delhi and District Cricket Association.

GCA was till now controlled by Congress leader Narhari Amin. But Modi's Home Minister Amit Shah was engaged in long drawn political as well as legal battle with Amin group for the last one and half year for the control of cash rich GCA.

Recently, the BJP had managed to win over the Central Board of Cricket of Ahmedabad (CBCA) which is a part of GCA from the Congress group, after which Amin had resigned.

This declaration comes a day after the BJP swept the Assembly by-polls in the state by winning five seats out of seven.

After taking over the GCA, Modi addressing the media said, "I express my gratitude to the member of the GCA who have elected him unopposed."

"There is much to do in cricket world except playing the game by ball and bat in the field," Modi said.

"I will sit with co-members of GCA to form a blueprint of development of cricket, how to give it a professional touch, development of cricket by an integrated approach and attracting youths towards sports by using the popularity of Cricket," he further said.

Meanwhile, former BCCI secretary, Niranjan Shah today welcomed the entry of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi into GCA and expressed hope that cricket in the state will benefit by this development.

Talking to mediapersons, Shah who is the secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA), said, "I welcome his election as president of GCA and I heartily congratulate him".

"Modi Saheb has been Chief Minister of the state and after becoming president of GCA I believe that cricket in the state will be encouraged further," he said.

The state has three different associations affiliated to the Cricket Board - Saurashtra CA, Baroda CA and Gujarat CA - and all three associations would benefit following Modi becoming president of one of the associations, he said.

He also expressed the hope that Modi would now promote the game of cricket and its infrastructure in the state.

The former BCCI secretary refused the argument that political personalities entering into the game will harm it and said, "I have seen many politicians who entered into cricket administration and have done well for the game. It is not important to be a player, for administration work, Modi has proved to be good administrator and he knows what to do for cricket in the state," Shah added.