The waning clout of the Congress Party and its former ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, was reflected in the elections of the Board of Control for Cricket in India held in Chennai on Monday.
While NCP leader Sharad Pawar failed to secure sufficient support to take over as BCCI president, former Congress ministers Rajeev Shukla and Jyotiraditya Scindia were also edged out from the Indian cricket’s national governing body in a nail-biting election.
It may be some time before India becomes “Congress mukt” as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election speeches, but the BCCI has certainly become “Congress mukt”.
Dalmiya triumphs
Veteran cricket administrator and president of the Cricket Association of Bengal Jagmohan Dalmiya was unanimously elected president of the BCCI, a post that was being coveted by Pawar. The NCP chief, who has already done a stint as BCCI head and as president of the International Cricket Council, was keen to come back to the cricketing body. He is learnt to have lobbied hard with cricketing associations and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was earlier involved with the BCCI and continues to exercise immense influence over the organisation.
In fact, Pawar’s growing proximity to the Bharatiya Janata Party in general and Modi in particular in recent weeks was attributed to his desire to get back as BCCI president. Pawar had recently invited Modi for a non-political function to his constituency Baramati.
The NCP chief finds himself at a loose end these days as he has lost his ministry after the United Progressive Alliance government was voted out in the last Lok Sabha election. Used to the trappings of power and in the absence of any important position, the presidentship of the country’s richest sports body was a tempting proposition.
However, Pawar failed in his mission and was forced to make way for the 74-year-old Dalmiya, who emerged as the consensus choice of all the factions, following days of backroom negotiations.
Shukla and Scindia, who contested for the post of treasurer and vice-president, respectively, also lost out in the high-stakes contest despite hectic lobbying. Both are known to be close to Jaitley and may have sneaked through if the finance minister was in town. But Jaitley left for the United States on Saturday night to attend to his ailing wife.
Jaitley's absence felt
As a result, there was nobody to work the phones in their favour in the critical final stretch. At the same time, there are doubts if Shukla and Scindia would have made it even if Jaitley were at hand, as they had to contend with their party’s dwindling political fortunes which has impacted their ability to woo potential voters. Realising that they were on slippery ground, the two leaders had even made frantic calls to Congress president’s political secretary Ahmed Patel on Sunday night. But to little avail.
At the same time, everybody underestimated the influence wielded by Narayanaswami Srinivasan, who was forced to step down by the Supreme Court following his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
The election results are a clear victory for Srinivasan as all his loyalists, except Sanjay Patel, who lost the secretary’s post to Jaitley protege Anurag Thakur. The election went down to the wire as Thakur managed to squeak through by one vote.
The cricketing associations in the East and South went voted en bloc for Srinivasan’s camp followers. Srinivasan has a huge fan following in the South, especially in his community and among cricketers from the region, who felt that he has been wronged because of factional warfare in the BCCI. In fact, Pawar had to pull out of the race after he failed to persuade the East Zone, whose turn it was to propose the president’s name, to back him.
The Chennai-based businessman has also won over the smaller cricketing associations such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh by generously funding the cricketing facilities in these states. It is because of his largesse that these small states today boast of top-class cricketing stadia.
Srinivasan's clout
Consequently, his followers emerged victorious in the Monday election. Whether it is Jharkhand Cricket Association's Amitabha Chodhary who won the joint secretary’s post or Haryana's Anirudh Choudhary who defeated Rajeev Shukla for the treasurer's position, most of the newly-elected office bearers owe allegiance to Srinivasan.
Other Srinivasan followers who have won are TC Mathews (Kerala) and C K Khanna (Delhi), who defeated Scindia.
In fact, Dalmiya’s return as BCCI chief after a decade was also made possible because the state associations loyal to Srinivasan threw their weight behind him.
The BCCI elections always generate a lot of interest as politicians cutting across party lines have been involved in the cricketing body both overtly and covertly. The Monday election was followed avidly and was the subject of animated discussions in the corridors of Parliament. For a change, the controversial land acquisition ordinance took a backseat.
While NCP leader Sharad Pawar failed to secure sufficient support to take over as BCCI president, former Congress ministers Rajeev Shukla and Jyotiraditya Scindia were also edged out from the Indian cricket’s national governing body in a nail-biting election.
It may be some time before India becomes “Congress mukt” as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election speeches, but the BCCI has certainly become “Congress mukt”.
Dalmiya triumphs
Veteran cricket administrator and president of the Cricket Association of Bengal Jagmohan Dalmiya was unanimously elected president of the BCCI, a post that was being coveted by Pawar. The NCP chief, who has already done a stint as BCCI head and as president of the International Cricket Council, was keen to come back to the cricketing body. He is learnt to have lobbied hard with cricketing associations and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was earlier involved with the BCCI and continues to exercise immense influence over the organisation.
In fact, Pawar’s growing proximity to the Bharatiya Janata Party in general and Modi in particular in recent weeks was attributed to his desire to get back as BCCI president. Pawar had recently invited Modi for a non-political function to his constituency Baramati.
The NCP chief finds himself at a loose end these days as he has lost his ministry after the United Progressive Alliance government was voted out in the last Lok Sabha election. Used to the trappings of power and in the absence of any important position, the presidentship of the country’s richest sports body was a tempting proposition.
However, Pawar failed in his mission and was forced to make way for the 74-year-old Dalmiya, who emerged as the consensus choice of all the factions, following days of backroom negotiations.
Shukla and Scindia, who contested for the post of treasurer and vice-president, respectively, also lost out in the high-stakes contest despite hectic lobbying. Both are known to be close to Jaitley and may have sneaked through if the finance minister was in town. But Jaitley left for the United States on Saturday night to attend to his ailing wife.
Jaitley's absence felt
As a result, there was nobody to work the phones in their favour in the critical final stretch. At the same time, there are doubts if Shukla and Scindia would have made it even if Jaitley were at hand, as they had to contend with their party’s dwindling political fortunes which has impacted their ability to woo potential voters. Realising that they were on slippery ground, the two leaders had even made frantic calls to Congress president’s political secretary Ahmed Patel on Sunday night. But to little avail.
At the same time, everybody underestimated the influence wielded by Narayanaswami Srinivasan, who was forced to step down by the Supreme Court following his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
The election results are a clear victory for Srinivasan as all his loyalists, except Sanjay Patel, who lost the secretary’s post to Jaitley protege Anurag Thakur. The election went down to the wire as Thakur managed to squeak through by one vote.
The cricketing associations in the East and South went voted en bloc for Srinivasan’s camp followers. Srinivasan has a huge fan following in the South, especially in his community and among cricketers from the region, who felt that he has been wronged because of factional warfare in the BCCI. In fact, Pawar had to pull out of the race after he failed to persuade the East Zone, whose turn it was to propose the president’s name, to back him.
The Chennai-based businessman has also won over the smaller cricketing associations such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh by generously funding the cricketing facilities in these states. It is because of his largesse that these small states today boast of top-class cricketing stadia.
Srinivasan's clout
Consequently, his followers emerged victorious in the Monday election. Whether it is Jharkhand Cricket Association's Amitabha Chodhary who won the joint secretary’s post or Haryana's Anirudh Choudhary who defeated Rajeev Shukla for the treasurer's position, most of the newly-elected office bearers owe allegiance to Srinivasan.
Other Srinivasan followers who have won are TC Mathews (Kerala) and C K Khanna (Delhi), who defeated Scindia.
In fact, Dalmiya’s return as BCCI chief after a decade was also made possible because the state associations loyal to Srinivasan threw their weight behind him.
The BCCI elections always generate a lot of interest as politicians cutting across party lines have been involved in the cricketing body both overtly and covertly. The Monday election was followed avidly and was the subject of animated discussions in the corridors of Parliament. For a change, the controversial land acquisition ordinance took a backseat.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!