Modi close aide Amit Shah likely to take up senior BCCI post

BJP general secretary and Gujarat Cricket Association vice-president Amit Shah is likely to make an entry into the cricket board’s top administration later this year.

BJP general secretary and Gujarat Cricket Association vice-president Amit Shah is likely to make an entry into the cricket board’s top administration later this year.

The GCA is headed by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, who is poised to head the next government, according to exit polls. The GCA has stayed neutral in the current controversy around N Srinivasan.

Shah entering the top echelons of the BCCI will be seen as a move to ensure the cricket body is in the good books of Modi, who will be able to influence multiple votes if he comes to power.

Influential figure
“If Modi comes to power then he will be the deciding authority for the votes of Railways, Services, Universities, GCA, Baroda Cricket Association and the Saurashtra Cricket Association. And as head of the government, he will be an influential figure in the Board,” a BCCI official said on Thursday.

Shah, a Modi confidante, may be elected vice-president (West Zone) in place of Ravi Savant (Mumbai) at the BCCI’s Annual General Body in September. Savant has been openly critical of BCCI’s policies, which has not gone down well with the ruling group. MCA president Sharad Pawar has also criticised the BCCI for suspending the Rajasthan association.

“The move is also seen as rotation as it has been a while since a BCCI Vice-President was elected from the GCA,” the source added.