It's Pawar vs Ranbir for BCCI post
Dalmiya meets Bindra, talks on
| At the end of the day, it was almost certain that only other contender to the post would be Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, as Pawar landed in Kolkata to canvass and strike deals on the eve of the contest today. |
| Pawar continued to keep his cards close to his chest and for tactical reasons, was non-committal when asked if he would be fighting the election. But his presence in Kolkata gave him away as he had to take time off from a busy campaigning schedule in Maharashtra for the Assembly elections. |
| Power politics was at the centre of the election as Mahendra, son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal, announced that he was fighting for a job that involved a multi-million dollar empire. |
| "I will be contesting the post of president and I am quite hopeful of my victory," he said. He did not explain whether he would set up a full panel with himself at the helm of affairs. |
| "I am definitely contesting the president's post. A complete panel or not will be decided later," Mahendra said. |
| Mahendra has the backing of the powerful group of the outgoing president Jagmohan Dalmiya who has been appointed patron-in-chief of the board after his three-year term. |
| Originally, it was Arun Jaitely (BJP) who was to contest with Dalmiya's backing. But appalled at the political and money power that was involved in the election, Jaitely decided to withdraw. |
| Meanwhile, Pranab Mukherjee who by curious coincidence was also in Kolkata at the invitation of the Bharat Chambers of Commerce and by virtue of being the defence minister, is in a position to influence votes of the government nominees""the Services and the government servants""said the election was not a political one. |
| "It is a totally apolitical affair. The Congress has nothing to do with this," Mukherjee said when his attention was drawn to the reports that political interference could decide the fate of the election. |
| Mukherjee, however, denied that any directive had been given to the Services Sports Board, one of the affiliates of the BCCI and comes under the defence ministry. |
| "We never give direction from the top and in future also it will not be given. It will be decided by them (services board) only," Mukherjee said. The Services vote is likely to be crucial in the event of a close contest. |
| A five-star hotel in South Kolkata has emerged as the centre of activity with both camps pitching tent there to chalk out their strategies. |
| A last minute compromise between the two factions - led by Pawar and by Mahendra, who has been vice-president""is not ruled out. Pawar's supporter Bindra and Mahendra's supporter Dalmiya had a closed door meeting today. |
| The elections to the posts of president, secretary, vice-presidents (five), joint secretary and treasurer top the agenda on the opening day of the two-day BCCI annual general meeting tomorrow, when the national selection committee would also be reconstituted. |
| As can be imagined, this is a crucial body, not just for Indian cricket, but world cricket where five-day cricket matches are increasingly becoming less popular. |
| India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the only three countries in the world where "people still have the time to watch and appreciate five-day cricket" said a former national cricketer who is at the centre of the negotiations. |
| Pawar's loyalists and supporters are two people who used to be Dalmiya's good friends and today are his greatest detractors - former BCCI president IS Bindra of Punjab and former secretary Raj Singh Dungarpur of the Cricket Club of India (CCI). |
| Dungarpur has already declared that Pawar would win the contest comfortably bagging 18 of the total 31 votes. Pawar needs at least 16 votes to win. The ruling Left Front in West Bengal has said it will back Pawar. |
| The campaign discourse, is understandably about whether politicians whould get involved in sport bodies. Mahendra said that he had been associated with BCCI for 30 years and was critical of the Punjab cricket Board which is likely to nominate Pawar. |
| On the other hand, Pawar asserted that he was already heading the Mumbai Cricket Club and was eminently qualifed tto contest the election if he so decided. "I have been a member of many sport bodies and I have never brought politics into it", he said. |
| He conceded that this time it was the North Zone's turn to field a President and said the north Zone's views had to be ttaken into account while he was being nominated. He also said he would contest only if he was sure of winning. |
| Sources said the Dalmiya group would be putting up a full panel with current secretary SK Nair seeking re-election to the post, while Brijesh Patel and Jyoti Bajpai would contest joint secretary and treasurer's post respectively. |