Sports
Is Dalmiya ready for long haul? (Column: Just Sport)
By
Veturi Srivatsa Call him wily, Machiavelli, manipulator, Chanakya what you may,
Jagmohan Dalmiya worked out his math to return as president of the
Indian Cricket Board (BCCI). He knows the weaknesses of his colleagues
in the board and turned the situation to his advantage.
How did
Dalmiya manage the numbers? Simple, he had two votes, his own and that
of National Cricket Club. Plus he managed Tripura. The other three votes
from East - Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam - stayed with Narayanaswami
Srinivasan, who has been barred by the Supreme Court to have anything
with the functioning of the board, first from dispensing as board
president and then contesting the election.
As a quid pro quo,
Dalmiya pledged support for Srinivasan’s vice presidential candidates to
tilt the scales in a closely-contested fight. The two successfully
checkmated Sharad Pawar from getting a nomination from East Zone and
then shared the spoils in voting the office-bearers.
There are
certain irregularities in the conduct of the election, like the chair
using two votes including the casting vote to manipulate the election.
One of the members invoked the board’s own none of the above (NOTA)
provision to help a candidate win by dropping a blank ballot.
At best of times the victory margins in any serious election were never more one or two votes.
Invariably,
the president swung litigious votes in his group’s favour like Shivlal
Yadav did in the case of Baroda whose president Samarjit Gaekwad was
allowed to represent the association when its executive as empowered by
its constitution named Rakesh Parekh. And then Rajasthan, which would
have gone the Pawar Group way, was superseded to bring down the strength
of the eligible voters to 29.
These shenanigans may not escape
the eyes of the Supreme Court’s three-member committee of its former
judges, headed by Rajendra Mal Lodha, in recommending fool-proof ethical
methods of holding the board’s election.
The court while
delivering a historic judgment in the spot fixing and betting scandal in
the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) in January was unambiguous in
requesting the committee to recommend to the board “amendments
considered necessary to the memorandum of association of the BCCI and
the prevalent rules and regulations for streamlining the conduct of
elections to different posts/officers in the BCCI including conditions
of eligibility and disqualifications, if any, for candidates wanting to
contest the election for such posts, including the office of the
president of the BCCI".
The court has authorised the committee to
make “any other recommendation with or without suitable amendment to
the board’s relevant rules and regulations, to prevent sporting frauds,
conflict of interests, streamlining the working of the board itself to
make it more responsive to the expectations of the public at large and
to bring transparency in practices and procedures followed by it".
The
most uncharitable quip on the Monday’s board election came from a
highly respected former board member: The election is symptomatic of the
moribund state the board is in, a geriatric getting back as president.
Howsoever
one may admire Dalmiya for the way he fought the election successfully,
there is a sneaky feeling whether he has at 74 the physical and mental
ability to grapple with the contentious issues dogging the board.
After
the Chennai battle, it is clear the board is vertically split. Pawar’s
stated purpose of attending the meeting to end Srinivasan’s reign seems
to have more or less come true. Though Srinivasan has shown his clout by
getting his men elected to most decorative positions in the board, he
may find it difficult to handle Dalmiya in the longer run.
The
board has “unanimously†authorised Srinivasan to represent it at the
International Cricket Council (ICC), it would be interesting to see
whether Dalmiya would allow him to do so after the next AGM six months
from now. By then the man from the Eden Gardens would have either
consolidated his position or would have made way for a powerful
politician to step in.
The Supreme Court panel would surely look
into the lopsided composition of the executive body. A man from North
was elected as vice-president from Central Zone and an official from
South got elected as representative from West. That means two men from
North and two from South have usurped positions which should have gone
to the officials from West and Central. It’s grossly unfair for the
people of the two zones which have 11 associations.
Come to think
of it, the good old system of the various zones selecting their own
officials by rotation for every post was far better than someone like C.
K. Khanna, an out and out Delhite, getting elected as Central Zone
representative and Kerala’s T. C. Mathew from West. Why Srinivasan did
not think of getting someone from other zones to represent South or
East?
A case of power corrupts; absolute power corrupts
absolutely. Without realising the consequences, he has set a dangerous
precedent, even though the rule was made as an exception in the case of
president.
Srinivasan tinkered with the board’s constitution by
removing the cap on the terms of a president thinking he would be ruling
for ever. Ironically, it helped the man who himself once thought of
bringing in a similar amendment. Also, Srinivasan was at the forefront
as treasurer to expel Dalmiya from the board in 2005 and today they are
bedfellows for a consideration.
Monday’s election has yet again
proved that there are no permanent friends or foes in the board, only
permanent interests. It is just an old boys association where everyone
knows what the other man is up to.
At this rate, Lalit Modi has
hope. One need not be surprised if one of them tomorrow cohabits with
the man who conceptualised the IPL to share power.
Also, watch out for the GenNext headed by Anurag Thakur who has ascended to the most powerful position in today's board.
(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at [email protected])