NEW DELHI: Time is running out for some affiliated units of the BCCI. Asked by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to complete elections by September 14, several of them are unlikely to be able to meet that deadline. As of now, failure to do so means losing the right to vote at the BCCI annual general meeting scheduled for October 22.
In a list released by CoA on August 13, 10 state associations were yet to submit their revised constitution. This is the first step. If the constitution is approved by CoA, the states have to appoint electoral officers and then conduct elections. Till Tuesday, several of these 10 were not certain about elections by the stipulated late date of September 14.
Some of the associations appear confident that not meeting the deadline won’t result in being ruled ineligible to vote at the board’s AGM. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has set October 1 as a tentative date for polls. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) says it will finalise matters after a Supreme Court hearing. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) is waiting for clarifications from the CoA on its amended constitution.
Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Arunachal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Haryana and Chhattisgarh were the other associations listed among the 10 on August 13. Till Tuesday, there was no news of any of them submitting the required documents that are needed to be able to hold elections.
“We are not aware of any deadline,” said an official of the TNCA, when asked whether they can complete everything by September 14. “As far as the association is concerned, we have certain questions regarding the revised constitution. These queries are lying before the Supreme Court. Until we hear from the court, we can’t go ahead with the process. Once that is done, the TNCA will proceed with the changes.” According to sources in the Madhya Pradesh association, they too are waiting for a court hearing on an internal application.
The KSCA has similar things to say. “We had questions regarding the amended constitution and mailed them to the CoA two-three weeks back. But we are still to hear from them. We will send them a reminder if we don’t get a reply in the next two days. Everything else is ready, but we can’t send them the new constitution until we get the clarifications,” said an official.
The CAB’s announcement that elections are likely to be held two weeks after the last date announced by CoA is a clear indication that the state units are not overtly bothered about the repercussion. The administrators had earlier relaxed an August 14 deadline, by when the electoral officers of the states were supposed to have completed preparation of the list of members, election protocol and electoral roll. What they do if the September deadline is also flouted remains to be seen.