With the Supreme Court inching close to finalise the draft constitution meant to reform the BCCI, sports administrator and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar has jumped into the fray seeking a last minute indulgence from the Court to discontinue the one-State-one-vote rule.
Pawar, who had to step down as President of Mumbai Cricket Association in 2016, following the apex court's order imposing structural changes in administration of the Board of Control for Cricket in Inda (BCCI), said that the "One State One Vote" rule had the effect of "extinguishing" State associations of Maharashtra and Gujarat, whose contribution to the game of cricket and BCCI has been enormous.
Batting in favour of BCCI, he demanded the Court to allow him a hearing as he highlighted the charity activities of the BCCI despite being the richest cricket body in the world. He wished to point out "fundamental anomalies" and "difficulties" faced by BCCI in implementing the SC order of July 18, 2016 as he said the one-State-one-vote rule has no nexus with transparency and integrity of Board's functioning, sought to be achieved by the Court.
He even termed the allegations of "nepotism" and "conflict of interest" in BCCI to be "perceptions" and said that the draft Constitution being prepared by Court-appointed administrators had exceeded its brief as it impinged on the right of individual State associations when the task given by the Court related to altering composition of State cricket associations as well when the task given to it was to reform only the BCCI.