Dalmiya set to return as BCCI chief

Veteran cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya is all set to return on Monday as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a decade after he was unceremoniously removed from the post.

The road for Dalmiya was cleared after Sharad Pawar’s faction failed to get a proposer from the East Zone, prompting them to sign a truce with the section led by sidelined BCCI chief N Srinivasan.

Dalmiya, who has the firm backing of the Srinivasan group, is assured of 21 supporters in Monday’s annual general meeting (AGM).  The BCCI has 30 full members representing 27 state associations and three independent bodies—–All India Universities, Cricket Club of India and National Cricket Club—who can vote in the AGM.

The 70-year-old Dalmiya, president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), was BCCI president from 2000 to 2004 before he was ousted for misappropriation of funds and refusing to provide certain documents in an AGM held in Kolkata.
Ironically, it was Srinivasan, now his firm supporter, who played a major role in Dalmiya’s expulsion.

However, Dalmiya made a return to the BCCI fold in June 2013. He was later appointed the interim president of the BCCI after Srinivasan stepped aside till the probe on his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan in an IPL spot-fixing case was completed. Dalmiya’s election to the position has been necessitated by a Supreme Court directive which forced Srinivasan to stay away from the BCCI election.

Srinivasan can only vote during the electoral process as the TNCA representative.
While there would not be any election for the post of president after the six members from East Zone pledged their unanimous support to Srinivasan or his nominee, there could be a heated contest for other posts. Current BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel may retain his post, but he could face challenge from Pawar loyalist Anurag Thakur.

From the Srinivasan camp, nominees for the five vice-president posts are M L Nehru (North), C K Khanna (Central), Gangaraju (South), Goutam Roy (East), T C Mathew (West). The vice-presidential candidates from the Pawar camp are Jyotiraditya Scindia (Central), Ravi Sawant (West) and M P Pandove (North).