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One man, one post will change BCCI administration
MUMBAI: Until now, whenever powerful members of the cricket board’s working committee are ousted, they confine themselves to governing their state body as they plot
MUMBAI: Until now, whenever powerful members of the cricket board’s working committee are ousted, they confine themselves to governing their state body as they plot a return.
The Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to implement the ‘one person, one post’ rule as recommended by the Justice Lodha committee has put a spanner in the works of this ‘tradition’ in Indian cricket’s officialdom. The ruling means a BCCI office-bearer cannot simultaneously be an executive member in any state unit. For example, BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke, who also head the Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra units respectively, will have to choose between the two posts.
MANY HATS
Vice-president Rajeev Shukla too will also have to recuse himself from dual responsibilities. He heads the Uttar Pradesh association and is chairman of the IPL Governing Council. BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary (Jharkhand association) and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry (Haryana) will also be affected.
It remains to be seen whether it also affects former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president, the BCCI technical committee chairman and is also an IPL Governing Council member.
Shirke though said on Monday that he would give up his post as Maharashtra association president. “I have always said I have no fascination for designations. If somebody wants, they can take away both posts from me. But if you ask me, I feel at this juncture the board needs me more than my state association. I am a person who will not run away from my responsibilities unless the members ask me to.” The clause is likely to have a far-reaching effect on the way administrative politics has taken shape in the BCCI.
DOLING OUT FAVOURS
The ruling aims to weed out any possibility of favours being done to the home associations of individuals in power. In the past, venues of high-profile matches have invariably been awarded to state associations of top BCCI office-bearers.
The SC’s decision to also implement the recommendation that restricts the terms of office-bearers of the BCCI and affiliated units to three years, and just two years for the president, further complicates matters for these office-bearers. After these terms, if these officials wish to continue in the state bodies, they will have to again stand for election.
A senior BCCI official told HT: “Some members have spent years building a base for themselves in their state. There are a few who use it for political gains. It will be a difficult decision for them to part ways with these associations.”
