All eyes on who will be next BCCI president

All eyes on who will be next BCCI president: From the last few days there were growing concerns about BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya’s worsening health and the fears came true when he took his last breath on Sunday. Dalmiya is the first president to die in office in the board’s 85-year old history. The BCCI was planning an honourable exit for him by creating a post which would be called ‘patron in chief’ but his sudden demise has changed all equations.

A new President will now have to chosen and for that BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur will call a Special General Meeting (SGM) in the next 15 days. While the situation has created a leadership vaccum, the election of the next BCCI boss is not going to be easy given the internal board politics.

Also read: Twitter Reactions – Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away

Though the BCCI top brass feels it is “insensitive” to discuss who is going to take over, the names of Sharad Pawar and Rajeev Shukla are doing the rounds. If there is more than one candidate in the fray, it will go into an election and the President who will take over will stay in charge till 2017. Different factions of the BCCI are looking to get in action mode, and a crucial player in BCCI affairs, N Srinivasan is also expected to have his say.

One of the most obvious potential candidates is Sharad Pawar, the Mumbai Cricket Association president, who is believed to have told his inner circle about his desire to lead the BCCI once again. But Pawar has decided to play the waiting game as is so often does.

East zone’s vice-president Gautam Roy could also be a candidate considering he is the senior-most amongst the five VPs having first been elected at board’s Gwalior AGM in 1992. But Roy might not have many backers in BCCI.

There is also Rajiv Shukla, the UPCA president and Congress leader but even he would require support from east zone. Amidst all this there’s also the situation of the invisible hand ruling the BCCI, that of the federal government – the BJP. Members believe Thakur, the board secretary who is a senior BJP MP, will not upset the party leadership, where it is believed that Srinivasan has the backing of a top BJP politician.

Anybody who wants to become the BCCI president will have to get a proposer from either Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura or the National Cricket Club. Until the next meeting board secretary Anurag Thakur will handle the day-to-day affairs.