The Taj Bengal hotel, the battleground for the presidential elections of the Board of Control for Cricket in India was quiet - the calm before the storm - save for earlybird journalists. Kolkata's top cops were also roused early and went about securing the hotel, in anticipation of the arrival of a union minister. The Sharad Pawar group, staying at a different hotel about five kilometres away, went in to breakfast at around 9.30, all together in a special room sealed off from the public. Some members chose to stay neutral - and not stay at either of the camp's hotels while several key players were still trickling in, on early morning flights from across the country. There was some doubt that fog could delay flights, but that did not happen.