With the battle for BCCI President’s post gathering steam, hectic parleys and strategy sessions have started with former chief N Srinivasan summoning his loyalists for an “informal gathering” in Bengaluru on Thursday.
It is learnt that around 8 to 9 units will be meeting the ICC chairman to discuss the roadmap ahead of the Special General Body meeting and shortlist a candidate who would replace Jagmohan Dalmiya, who passed away last Sunday.
“Yes, I have been send feelers to be present in Bengaluru. I will be going there to know what’s there in store for future,” a senior state unit member and Srinivasan loyalist said.
There is a possibility that Amitabh Chaudhary, who has emerged as one of the presidential candidates from the East Zone will be in attendance along with majority of South units as well as some of the eastern units.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) will however not be present as the state unit officials have decided not to attend any formal or informal meeting till Dalmiya’s condolence meet is over at the Eden Gardens on October 2.
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has also started his back-channel talks with eastern units.
It has been learnt that Thakur has called up members of few of the eastern unit factions to check what’s in their mind as he is pitching for Rajeev Shukla’s name for presidency.
Interestingly, it must be recalled that last time when Shukla fought an election was for treasurer’s post during last AGM and lost to Srinivasan loyalist Aniruddh Chaudhary.
Shukla, on his part, was non-committal about his chances of being the next president of BCCI.
“How can I say anything on this right nowIJ I don’t want to speak on it,” Shukla told reporters at the AGM of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) in Kanpur.
“The BCCI Secretary will call a General Body meeting. This matter will be decided in that meeting. Till the time this meeting does not take place, it would not be appropriate to comment on this,” Shukla added.
Ganguly meets Mamata
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amid intense speculation that he may take over as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal following the demise of Dalmiya.
Ganguly, who is a joint secretary of the CAB, arrived at the state secretariat along with Dalmiya’s son Avishek and held an hour-long meeting with the chief minister.
The former India captain, however, refused to comment on whether he would throw his hat as a candidate for the president’s post.
“To discuss something like this (three days after his death) is not right. Speculation will be on, someone will run CAB. It’s too early to comment because it has just been three days... It’s very early to say,” Ganguly told reporters after his meeting.
Condoling Dalmiya’s demise, Ganguly said: “I’ve lost someone very dear. I’ve grown up before him since childhood. I had a very personal relation with Dalmiya... He was very special to me, I’ve lost very important person.”
Dalmiya’s concluding ritual (shraddh) will be held on October 2 and Avishek said he had come to invite the Chief Minister.
“On October 2 my father’s shraddh ceremony will be held. I went to invite the chief minister who gave outstanding support to us even after he (Dalmiya) left us. She gave us a lot of respect. I went there to express my gratitude,” Avishek said.
It’s not clear whether Ganguly had gone there to garner support but there’s intense speculation over the high profile meeting, three days after the demise of Dalmiya who died of massive cardiac arrest at a private nursing home Sunday.
But it remains to be seen whether the former India captain, who’s a newcomer into the cricket administration, is really able to make it with CAB consisting of 121 affiliated units.
It is believed that Ganguly is not a unanimous choice among a group of members as heavyweights like Chitrak Mitra, Gautam Dasgupta, TMC senior leader Subrata Mukherjee may be eyeing the seat.
A state minister said the government has nothing to do with the CAB affairs but Ganguly is the pride of West Bengal.
“The state government has nothing to do with the matter of CAB President elections. We have nothing to comment regarding it. But yes Sourav is pride of Bengal,” the minister said.
In fact, former CAB joint secretary and current treasurer Biswarup Dey with a considerable support also cannot be ruled out.
Incidentally, the Bengal cricket icon has been roped in by the West Bengal government for hosting an upcoming business reality show and some believed that meeting was in that context.