Will Sharad Pawar and Srinivasan compromise for BCCI's sake?

A final settlement between parties interested in the upcoming BCCI elections might be reached on Tuesday night and barring unforeseen developments there is a possibility that veteran politician Sharad Pawar’s candidature for the board’s top post may be announced by Wednesday afternoon at a press conference in New Delhi.

According to sources, a “compromise” cannot be ruled out between the N Srinivasan group, the current rulers, and the Sharad Pawar-led so called opposition within the BCCI.

Someone went to the extent of saying that should a “compromise” eventually be struck between the parties, Srinivasan could retain his ICC chairman’s post. “If a compromise is reached it would possibly mean that Pawar would unanimously be chosen BCCI president at the March 2 elections and Srinivasan would continue as ICC chairman,” a source told Mail Today.

“As of today, chances are that there would be no election to any of the BCCI’s posts, as all candidates could be chosen by consensus in the 30-member house,” he said.

So far, as reported by Mail Today, some key members of the Pawar group have been maintaining that if Pawar were to come to power, they would surely replace Srinivasan as ICC chairman as that post is by nomination by the concerned country’s board, in this case the BCCI.

Sources said that hectic developments took place on Tuesday in Chennai and in New Delhi, and meetings were set to go late into the evening, or spill over to Wednesday morning.

“After the Supreme Court made it doubly clear to Srinivasan on Monday that he couldn’t contest the BCCI election as he was in a conflict-of-interest situation in the board, people owing allegiance started rushing to Chennai, the home city of Srinivasan, for discussions,” a top source told Mail Today.

“A meeting between Srinivasan and the BCCI’s state associations supporting him was held on Tuesday in Chennai. After that Srinivasan, with his short list of candidates for the various posts, was scheduled to meet a key senior central minister who is playing the role of a mediator in the BCCI affairs,” he said.

However, representatives of a few key state associations from east zone reportedly skipped the Chennai meeting, according to another source. “Some of the absent members landed up in Delhi while the Assam Cricket Association reportedly created confusion by keeping away from both meetings, indicating the intensifying politicking. DDCA and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) too skipped the Chennai meeting,” he said.

“The Pawar-led group, too has been politely asked to spell out the names of the candidates it intends to field in the elections. There’s a possibility this list might have already been submitted, perhaps orally, to the same minister who’s mediating,” the source said.

This time, it’s east zone’s turn to propose and second the names of candidates for all the posts of the office-bearers and the five vice-presidents.

In this context, Jagmohan Dalmiya, who controls two crucial east zone votes as head of the CAB and the National Cricket Club, may or may not play an important role in the election.

Till Tuesday evening, Dalmiya was keeping his cards close to his chest. When told that now all eyes were trained at him, Dalmiya told Mail Today: “It’s a million dollar statement. There’s nothing to say right now.”

If a compromise is reached between the Srinivasan and Pawar groups, the latter could fly out to Chennai on Wednesday itself along with all his supporters to prepare for the elections.

Developments picked pace after PM Narendra Modi shared dais with Pawar at a public function in the latter’s hometown Baramati on Valentine’s Day, February 14, setting off speculations vis-à-vis BCCI elections.

“After they met and discussed the BCCI affairs again in Delhi, Modi is said to have turned to the senior minister, who sought a day’s time to get the hang of things completely,” said the source. BJP’s support would be decisive for either party as it controls close to one-thirds of the 30 votes. But the real reason for the BJP’s extending support would have political connotations, particularly in Maharashtra, where the BJP needs a stable partner to support its government, and Pawar’s NCP is in a position to do that.