N. Srinivasan says he will seek re-election as BCCI president
President-in-exile N. Srinivasan can seek a year's extension as Board chief. He completes his two-year tenure this month. Shashank Manohar's name doing the rounds as BCCI members want former Board president to come in again.
N. Srinivasan has said he will seek re-election as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The Board chief, who is in exile due to court cases against him and his Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings, is finishing a two-year term and can seek a year's extension at the BCCI annual general meeting in Chennai on September 29.
In the wake of the IPL related court cases against Srinivasan, there are murmurs of discontent within the BCCI. Reports say some members of the Board want former president Shashank Manohar to come in for another term. A section of the Board also wants Sharad Pawar to return.
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According to BCCI sources, hectic lobbying has already started to elect a new Board chief apparently because Srinivasan has lost credibility after his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was charged for betting during IPL 2013 matches. The Mumbai Police are also going to file a chargesheet against Meiyappan. Plus a series of PILs in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court against Srinivasan questioning the validity of the IPL probe panel report that cleared him and Meiyappan has also queered the pitch for the businessman from Chennai.
Srinivasan is also not sure of full support from the southern states. In a recent meeting convened by Srnivasan, Goa and Andhra Pradesh reportedly stayed away. The entire IPL corruption case and the manner in which it was handled by Srinivasan has divided the BCCI members. But Srinivasan is determined to chair the AGM on September 29. In order to cling on to his position, Srinivasan will need 16 votes at the AGM. The president is elected at the BCCI's AGM with each of the 30 affiliates of the BCCI getting a vote. The outgoing president also has a vote as chairman of the meeting.
With the Supreme Court in no hurry to dispose of the BCCI case, Srinivasan has no option but to seek a fresh mandate from the Board members in order to extend his innings at the helm of Indian cricket by one year. Technically, Srinivasan is well within his rights to seek a re-election. Registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, the BCCI constitution only bars a convicted member from discharging his honorary duties. Srinivasan is likely to use this provision in the constitution to regain the post from which he had "voluntarily" stepped aside, vide an affidavit in Bombay High Court in July.
But it may not be smooth sailing for Srinivasan. With Manohar's name doing the rounds, the AGM could now see a fight. The Nagpur-based Manohar has a very clean image. When Srinivasan stepped aside, his name was proposed as interim president but Manohar refused to take the post. The job of the caretaker president went to Jagmohan Dalmiya. Pawar's return also remains a possibility. The political heavyweight, who has a soft corner for Manohar, could influence the power struggle at the richest cricket Board in the world.