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Power play in UPCA: It’s founders vs current ‘rulers’
Patron of the sports body, Sushila Singhania, has asked UPCA secy to “shut down all camp offices of the cricket body in Delhi, Lucknow, Meerut, Jhansi etc, as soon as possible in wake of corruption charges against the UPCA.”
LUCKNOW The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) seems to be facing its “biggest crisis” since its inception in 1928 as ‘battlelines’ have been drawn between the founders and the ‘current rulers’ of the cricket body.
Family members of UPCA’s first founder, Sir Padampat Singhania, have stood up to “correct the system”, and patron of the sports body, Sushila Singhania, has asked UPCA secretary Arvind Srivastava to “shut down all camp offices of the cricketing body in Delhi, Lucknow, Meerut, Jhansi etc, as soon as possible in wake of corruption charges against the UPCA.”
Over the last few months, several reports of alleged corruption, including bribery in selection of players, entry to outsider players in Uttar Pradesh teams, involvement of of a former UPCA boss’ personal secretary in the affairs of the association etc, surfaced in the media while mails regarding this were also sent to the BCCI top brass, including its secretary Jay Shah, said an office-bearer of UPCA.
UPCA president Nidhipati Singhania, in his reply to Hindustan Times on Friday, confirmed the authenticity of the letter by his mother and UPCA patron Sushila Singhania. “The letter is true,” he replied via email.
Sushila Singhania, wife of late Gaur Hari Singhania, former UPCA president, stated that the news about the “internal tussle within the UPCA everywhere,” including social media platforms and other media, had been tarnishing the association’s image, and “all such things aren’t acceptable to me or the UPCA family.”
“I have asked JK Cement Ltd MD Raghavpat Singhania to monitor the functioning of UPCA. Everybody, including members, managers, cricketers, coaches, umpires etc, can apprise me or Raghavpat about their problems as other Singhanias used to do in the past,” she stated in her letter.
Sushila Singhania also mentioned about one Uttam Prasad Kesarwani as one of the close members of the Singhania family, as a representative of Nidhipati Singhania, to manage things in UPCA accordingly. “All the office-bearers and directors of UPCA are instructed to give their support to Kesarwani for the smooth functioning of UPCA,” she added.
It is learnt that due to the space crunch at the UPCA’s registered office at Kamla Tower in Kanpur, the office of the sports body was shifted to Kamla Club (Kanpur) in 2019.
However, UPCA secretary Arvind Srivastava denied having received any such letter from the UPCA patron on Friday.
“So far, I haven’t received any letter from Sushila ji. Even on being contacted, she refused to identify Kesarwani,” said Srivastava, who was in Bengaluru to attend a function.
