No one can ignore Sharad Pawar, not even Narendra Modi, never mind the prime minister’s choice of words to deride the Maratha strongman during last year’s general elections. Both obviously do not believe in perpetual enmity in political life.
What’s more, a big-time industrialist, who is as close to Pawar as he is to Modi, is keen that the two join hands, at least to run world’s richest cricket body, though the former union minister continues to state that he is not all that eager to become the board president a second time.
At his meeting with Modi, Pawar got the go-ahead and is believed to have called a couple of his close associates to break the news. He and his supporters are expected to fly out to Chennai soon after Jaitley presents the Union Budget.
Now that the sidelined president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Narayanaswami Srinivasan Friday apologised to the Supreme Court for presiding over last week’s Working Committee meeting and said he would not chair the oft-postponed Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai Monday, Pawar’s position gets strengthened.
The apex court, however, permitted Srinivasan to attend the AGM and vote as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) representative, thereby giving him some leverage to check whether his flock is intact.
The board kept postponing the AGM, which should have been held obligatorily before Sep 30, in the hope that Srinivasan would be reprieved to contest the election.
But the apex court was clear in its ruling Jan 22 that the board should hold its election within six weeks and Srinivasan cannot contest till a committee of three former Supreme Court judges, headed by former Chief Justice R.S. Lodha decides on the punishment to those who have commercial interest in the board.
The apex court bench of Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohammed Ibrahim Kalifulla rubbed it in clarifying that “no one who has any commercial interest in BCCI events shall be eligible for contesting election for any post whatsoever.”
As mentioned in this column a couple of months ago that Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah cannot forget Pawar’s timely help when Shiv Sena tried to play hardball at the time of the formation of the Maharashtra government.
It is not an easy decision for Modi, though. If he is willing to go against the advice of his trusted adviser Arun Jaitley, who is not fond of Pawar even if he does not dislike him, it shows the importance of the former International Cricket Council (ICC) president in the present political climate.
Jaitely’s fear is if Pawar is back at the helm, the controversial Lalit Modi might return to Rajasthan and then to board. It was the board’s disciplinary committee headed by him that threw Modi out of all cricket operations. But Lalit’s proximity to Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia can neutralise the political equation as she is on good terms with the Prime Minister.
Jaitley’s compromise choice apparently is Congressman Rajeev Shukla, but that may not be acceptable to the party politically, though the canny Uttar Pradesh Association chief is making a last-ditch effort.
If Pawar gets BJP support, it will be a no contest. He will get three government votes of the Services, Railways and the Universities besides the votes of Gujarat Association, of which Shah is president, Delhi, the pocket borough of Jaitley, Himachal Pradesh, whose president is ruling party MP Anurag Singh Thakur, BJP-ruled Goa, and Andhra, whose secretary Gokaraju Ganga Raju won the Lok Sabha seat on BJP ticket.
Pawar, who is the president of Mumbai Cricket Association, also has the backing of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Baroda, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Cricket Club of India (CCI).
Since it is the turn of East Zone to nominate the president, Pawar’s name is expected to be proposed by Tripura with Assam seconding the nomination. That will account for 10 votes. The caveat is that J&K, CCI, Tripura and Assam will fall in line only in case Pawar is contesting, not if if the group decides to put up any other candidate, not even former president Shashank Manohar.
Srinivasan is holding on to his trusted lieutenants from Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Jharkhand and Odisha besides his own Tamil Nadu. He might also get the CCI vote if Pawar is not contesting.
That leaves Jagmohan Dalmiya and his fast eroding support base, more because of his advancing age and poor health. The Pawar group is believed to have offered a key position to one of his trusted men, possibly someone from his family. Dalimya is still weighing his options since Srinivasan’s group may even settle for him as president.
Uttar Pradesh’s vote invariably goes to the winner!
Srinivasan and his supporters have now reconciled and are trying to put up a proxy candidate to keep the seat warm hoping the court will clear him to return and occupy it. But the other big-wigs in the board will have none of it. Some of them want a clear break from his dispensation.
The principal office-bearers elected Monday should have a three-year tenure, but it would be interesting to see whether the board would have another election in September if the Judges panel suggests or recommends amendments to the eligibility rules for election.
Now Srinivasan can only hope that the new rulers of the board will allow him to stay as chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at v.srivatsa@ians.in)