THE WEEK: National: Tuesday, July 03, 2018.
Many of the
newly elected members favour repealing of RTI Act
In what could
be termed as a setback to C.K. Khanna, the acting president of the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the person who controlled votes under
proxy system in the past, media personality Rajat Sharma and his panel swept
the Delhi and District Cricket Association elections 12-0. The results were
declared on Monday.
Sharma beat
the panel headed by former all-rounder Madan Lal. Sharma secured the highest
number of votes as presidential candidate with 54.4 per cent of votes cast in
his favour. He polled 1,521 votes as against Madan Lal who got 1,004 votes. The
latter was backed by Khanna whose wife Shashi, too, was in the fray for the
vice president's seat. The third candidate in the race, senior Advocate Vikas
Singh, got 232 votes.
Soon after
taking charge, Sharma told media that he would ensure transparency in
functioning of the scam-ridden DDCA, but gave no assurances on whether his
committee will retain the RTI clause included in the constitution by Justice
Sen before elections took place. Fears of the RTI clause being repealed
surfaced after many of the newly elected members said that they were going to
press for its repealing. DDCA had become the first state cricket association to
adopt the RTI Act.
“Let me
discuss this; let me first have a meeting of the executive; we will discuss and
let you know,” was Sharma's response when specifically asked about DDCA's RTI
compliance under the newly elected team.
The victory
of Sharma panel, which had the tacit support of the Delhi Bharatiya Janata
Party and blessings of former DDCA president Arun Jaitley, led to loud
celebrations and chaos inside the premises even as the rival camps questioned
the manner in which counting of votes was conducted. Sharma was backed by some
of those DDCA members who have been accused by former India players Bishan Bedi
and Kirti Azad of maladministration and mismanagement of funds.
Immediately
after the declaration of results, the
victorious panel went to pay a courtesy call on Jaitley. In the evening,
the Delhi High Court-appointed administrator Justice Vikramjit Sen handed over
the charge to Sharma and his team, giving him account statements, manuals
passed in the AGM, declaration of external forensic audit report, key of
cupboards and cabins and minutes of the AGM.
“I see this
as victory of a democratic system direct voting over proxy system. We see this
as a victory for change. I don't want to go into past. We will start on a clean
state,” said Sharma.
The elections
were held as per the Justice R.M. Lodha committee reforms. Seven of those
elected in Sharma panel are family members of former DDCA executive committee
members or board of directors.
Speaking to
media, Sharma said, “I would like to thank all DDCA members who stood by me and
supported me for such a resounding victory. Our agendas are: how happy we can
make members of DDCA, give them better
facilities when they come to watch cricket and spend an evening here. My
commitment to players is that there will be absolute transparency, no favouritism;
absolutely on merit. We need more Kohlis, Gambhirs, Dhawans, Sehwags and Pants.
DDCA has a glorious past given a wonderful past. It's our time to give back to
them.” He promised transparent selections an issue which has in the past
tarnished the image of DDCA and harmed Delhi cricket.
"I will
give as much time as required to DDCA. I am very committed,” he assured when asked how he would manage
this responsibility along with his other commitments.
Sharma had
invited former India opener Gautam Gambhir to discuss a few things with him in
the evening. Gambhir is a government observor and openly supported the Sharma
panel. There are reports that Sharma will announce formation of a cricket
committee which will have the likes of Gambhir and former Delhi skipper Mithun
Manhas. He is likely to announce formation of two key committees on Tuesday.
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