Jagmohan Dalmiya set to return as BCCI president; Pawar, N Srinivasan camps fight for posts

Chennai: Jagmohan Dalmiya has done it again. It was the veteran cricket administrator from Bengal who had foiled Sharad Pawar’s first shot at the BCCI president post in 2004 by helping his candidate Ranbir Singh Mahendra win, smartly voting as chairman to tie the score and then exercising his casting vote.

On the eve of the Board’s 85th AGM to be held here on Monday, Pawar’s attempt to make a comeback into the BCCI was thwarted again by Dalmiya. It’s East Zone’s turn to pick the candidate for president and Dalmiya’s stranglehold over the zone controlling four votes (Jharkhand and Orissa apart from his own associations, Cricket Association of Bengal and NCC) meant the Pawar camp, with only Tripura looking certain to vote in his favour, couldn’t find a seconder.

Though Pawar’s camp claimed that Dalmiya was with them, one of Srinivasan’s close confidants said the Bengal administrator would never forget what Pawar did to him in 2006. “When Pawar was elected as Board president, Dalmiya was banned from BCCI meetings and an FIR was filed against him, accusing misappropriation of the 1996 World Cup funds. He even had to stay away from his home association and it took a lot of effort to make a comeback in 2010,” he said.

As talk of Pawar contesting for the post of president slowly died down in the morning, BJP leader Anurag Thakur’s name started doing the rounds for a brief while before he was nominated for the secretary’s post to take on N. Srinivasan’s supporter Sanjay Patel, the incumbent.

Not long ago, Thakur was seen as a loyalist of Srinivasan. Srinivasan, with the help of Dalmiya, might have succeeded in keeping Pawar away from the board, but if Thakur manages to beat Patel he would make the TN strongman’s life difficult. However, if Srinivasam’s equations with Dalmiya are better than that of Pawar, his post as chairman of ICC may not be under threat. The ICC chairmanship nomination also comes up for ratification at the AGM on Monday. In another interesting battle, Rajiv Shukla backed by Pawar has been pitted against Anirudh Choudhary for treasurer.

Of the 29 BCCI members at the meeting (Rajasthan Cricket Association might not be allowed to participate), the Pawar camp has the support of five Central Zone members. He might enjoy support in the West Zone too, with Mumbai, Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Gujarat and Baroda.

The Srinivasan camp has a clear advantage in South Zone where the five state associations — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Kerala and Andhra — are on his side. Interim-president Shivlal Yadav will also be in the spotlight on Monday as he is likely to chair the AGM. As BCCI interim boss and presiding officer, he will also have a vote besides the affiliated members. In the event of a tie, Shivlal has the power to exercise a casting vote.