CHENNAI: In an interesting turn of events, Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) on Saturday announced its newly elected office-bearers after its annual general meeting without naming a president.
Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former GCA joint-secretary, was conspicuous by his absence from the list, triggering speculation over his future and much talked about plans to take over as the BCCI chief.
Sources in the know of things informed that Jay, whose name had been doing the rounds as one of the candidates for the BCCI top post till Saturday, has only eight months before the mandatory cooling-off period comes into effect. He has been an office-bearer of the GCA for more than five years. Jay, however, will be the GCA representative for the BCCI’s AGM scheduled for October 23.
Although not electing a president raised eyebrows, the state unit said that it will appoint one with the Apex Council soon. The last date for holding state associations’ elections is October 4 as per the revised schedule announced by the Committee of Administrators.“The president and Apex Council will be elected soon. Everything has been done after consulting electoral officer Varesh Sinha, a former chief secretary of Gujarat and also its election commissioner,” Anil Patel, who was unanimously elected joint-secretary, told this newspaper.
The other office-bearers, who were elected uncontested, are Dhanraj Nathwani (vice-president), Ashok Brahmbhatt (secretary) and Bharat Zaveri (treasurer).
“The president’s post has been vacant ever since Amit Shah assumed the charge of the Union Home Minister. In the absence of elected president, the vice-president will carry out the duties.”
Repeated attempts to contact the electoral officer went in vain but a CoA member said polls without electing the president is possible.
“I am not aware of it (GCA elections) but it’s possible. The electoral officer may not have received any nomination for the post of president. If that was the case, the vice-president will discharge the duties of the president till the time a president is elected,” the CoA member said. The CoA member, though, affirmed that elections in every state unit have to be completed by October 4.
Nathwani, son of outgoing vice-president Parimal Nathwani, was also elected president of the Gujarat State Football Association in August 2017, for a period of two years. The tenure must have ended last month, but it could not be verified whether he was given any extension.
Meanwhile, Nathwani after the polls said, “My first priority will be to complete our honourable PM Narendra Modi’s dream project, the world’s largest cricket stadium at Motera and make it the most sought after cricketing venue in the world.”