Dalmiya set to return as BCCI chief

Former president Sharad Pawar failed to get a proposer from East zone, prompting the Maratha strongman to pull out of the race.

March 01, 2015 04:09 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:15 pm IST - Chennai

The sole nominee for BCCI president, Jagmohan Dalmiya. File photo: S. Subramanium

The sole nominee for BCCI president, Jagmohan Dalmiya. File photo: S. Subramanium

Jagmohan Dalmiya is set to return as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The 74-year-old West Bengal strongman was the only nominee for the top job as the deadline ended on Sunday evening. The BCCI’s Annual General Meeting will be held here on Monday. A former BCCI and ICC president, Mr. Dalmiya had temporarily run the BCCI’s day-to-day affairs in 2013 when N. Srinivasan stepped aside following the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. He had been requested by Mr. Srinivasan to do so.

Given his proximity to Mr. Srinivasan over the last three years, Mr. Dalmiya is seen as his candidate.

Interestingly, Sharad Pawar’s faction, who is in the city with his supporters, also projected Mr. Dalmiya as its choice. This also reflected the group’s failure to secure two East Zone votes — for a name to be proposed and seconded – for its own man.

This is the East Zone’s turn to nominate, and Mr. Dalmiya controls two of the six votes in the region: the Cricket Association of Bengal and the National Cricket Club.

There will, however, be a contest between the two factions for the other posts; these do not need to be proposed and seconded by associations from the East Zone.

Mr. Srinivasan’s group has nominated Sanjay Patel as its choice for secretary, Anirudh Chaudhry, treasurer, and Amitabh Chaudhary, joint secretary. Mr. Pawar’s faction has fielded Anurag Thakur (secretary), Rajiv Shukla (treasurer) and Chetan Desai (joint secretary).

For the posts of vice-president, one from each zone, Mr. Srinivasan’s group has named G. Gangaraju (South), T.C. Mathew (West), C.K. Khanna (Central), Gautam Roy (East) and M.L. Nehru (North).

Mr. Pawar’s faction has Ravi Savant (West), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Central) and M.P. Pandove (North) as its candidates.

Although Mr. Srinivasan’s group has the edge, things could become tight. There are 31 votes, including the casting vote of the chairman. However, there could, effectively, be only 30 votes since the Rajasthan Cricket Association has been suspended.

Since Shivlal Yadav served as the Supreme Court-appointed interim Board president, Mr. Srinivasan’s group could move a proposal for the former Indian off-spinner to chair the meeting. This could be opposed by Mr. Pawar’s faction.

The chairman must pick representatives for the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association and the Baroda Cricket Association, which have warring factions.

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