NEW DELHI: E-VOTING to elect office-bearers of the Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA) began on Friday. Of the 1,267 members, who feature on the final electoral roll released by the BCCI electoral officer N Gopalaswami, one name stands out. It’s TP Sudhindra, a former Madhya Pradesh medium-pacer, who was banned for life by the BCCI in 2012 for his alleged role in match-fixing in domestic games. The electoral roll shows Sudhindra as a member of Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh.
Five domestic players were banned by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee. A news channel conducted a sting operation wherein these cricketers were seen agreeing to fix matches and negotiating for illegal payment. Sudhindra was handed the harshest punishment. The BCCI’s disciplinary committee banned him for life after he was found guilty of receiving payment to spot-fix a domestic match. "I saw his name on the electoral roll. It was surprising as we did not forward his name for the membership. He must have applied for it online," a former Chhattisgarh association office-bearer told this daily requesting anonymity.
“We’ve received quite a few objections after publishing the draft electoral roll on September 30 and took action on the basis of complaints and evidence received. Nobody complained against Sudhindra, so his name is there in the electoral roll,” Gopalaswami said. “The (election) process has already started and he cannot be stopped from casting his vote.”
E-voting process
All the registered members were sent a mail containing a user ID and a 10-digit one-time password for voting by the BCCI on Thursday. A member has to visit www.evotingindia.com and click on stakeholders/members to vote. The member has to log in using his/her user ID and writing CAPTCHA given before entering the password.
Then the member has to select EVSN. Once it’s done, names of candidates for the posts they are contesting for will appear on the screen and the member can cast his/her vote and press the OK button. The poll results will be declared on October 15. The first meeting of the newly-elected ICA board will take place the next day.