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'Gentleman' Raj Singh ahead in BCCI polls

With just a few days remaining for the annual general meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, where elections for various posts will be conducted, a keen contest for the top slot seems imminent.

Maharashtra Cricket Association president D C Agashe has announced his candidature for the president's post - going up against incumbent Raj Singh Dungarpur, who was elected last year.

The annual general meeting of the BCCI will be held at Madras on September 20 and 21.

While claims of support from some units have been staked by the section supporting Agashe, BCCI units in eastern India in particular have conveyed their backing for a second term for Dungarpur.

Secretary of the Assam Cricket Association Abdul Matin in a telephonic interview said "It is a ridiculous and motivated move by a small section of the BCCI members to remove Raj Singh, to whom cricketing interest is not secondary."

Matin said that under Raj Singh, the BCCI was able to start various developmental programmes directly related to cricket, like that of curatorship of grounds in a bid to make better pitches. "Our state government has, in fact, started taking an active interest in spreading the game since the BCCI had taken up the developmental programme in the last one year," Matin added.

According to a report, the Agashe group, which is being supported by former board president and present Punjab Cricket Association supremo Inderjit Singh Bindra, met at Delhi and claimed the support of 18 to 19 state units.

Asked why he attended the meeting, Matin said the, "The assistant secretary of our association went to Delhi because we were under the impression that there would be informal discussion regarding developments in the game. But our representative was shocked when the meeting turned out to be a forum for power politics, with a motive to remove Raj Singh and his group from the board. Our association will oppose any such move, and will extend cent per cent support to Raj Singh for his reelection," Matin added.

Former vice president of the board and present secretary of the OCA B B Das also echoed Matin's sentiments. ''I know Raj Singh personally, since I was assistant manager under him during the Indian team's tour of Pakistan in 1984. He is not only a former cricketer, but has also been chairman of the selection committee and manager of the Indian team for a number of years. I don't see any reason why he should be opposed, specially when he did a marvellous job as BCCI president for the past one year. I think there can't be a better candidate, and the Orissa Cricket Association's full support will be with Raj Singh and his group,'' Das said.

Samiran Chakravarthy, one of the board vice-presidents, who is also secretary of the Tripura Cricket Association, has also supported Raj Singh's continuation. "He has been able to impart a positive view to most board activities, he has taken personal interest in and cared for smaller associations like Tripura and Himachal pradesh," Chakravathy said. ''We are particularly impressed by his vision on developing the game in the north east region."

Former Indian cricketer and present secretary of the Bihar Cricket Association Ramesh Saxena too felt that various positive steps were initiated by Raj Singh since he took over as the board's president. The programme of curatorship, the proposed cricket academy, a course for scorers and statisticians are only a few examples, Saxena said, addming, "I know him as a cricketer and a perfect gentelman since 1963. His contribution to cricket is unquestionable."

Besides the above, the Crickeet Association of Bengal has also come out strongly in favour of Raj Singh.

Banerjee, the honorary joint secretary, reiterated his association's support and said he was peeved at reports appeared in a section of the press regarding former board secretary and present ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya. He said, '' We have read about the efforts of certain people to malign Dalmiya, who is also the CAB president. It is beneath our dignity to indulge in such mud-slinging. Dalmiya's contribution to Indian cricket is well known, and his elevation to the presidency of the ICC is a matter of pride for our country. We believe in the principles of democracy, and the allegations levelled against our president will be answered on the floor when the board's annual general meeting takes place next week.''

Referring to reports ostensibly circulated by the Agashe group to the effect that former Test stars such as Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Polly Umrigar have criticised Dalmiya as being too autocratic, Bannerjee said, "We know the kind of respect that Dalmiya commands from the cricketing stalwarts. It would be much better if these stalwarts are allowed to speak about Dalmiya on their own, rather than the agashe group being their spokespersons."

Meanwhile in Pune, Dnyaneshwar Agashe, officially announcing his candidature on Sunday, said that having felt the pulse of a large majority of the BCCI state units, he had decided to throw his hat in the ring. "20 or more affiliated units have given me their total loyalty," Agashe said.

Saying that his fight was for a cause and not a matter of individuals warring for power, Agashe said, "My sincere efforts will be to safeguard Indian cricket and bring the BCCI back on the rails of smooth functioning."

His group, he said, would be contesting all the posts, including those for the five vice presidents.

UNI