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Embattled president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), N Srinivasan, today faced further embarassment after two senior members of the cricket body quit in the evening over his refusal to resign.
Honorary Secretary, Sanjay Jagdale and treasurer Ajay Shirke had earlier threatened they would resign from their posts as the board was getting a bad name after Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Srinivasan, was arrested for being allegedly being involved in spot-fixing.
“I have resigned from my post as the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI,” said Jagdale, while talking to reporters.
Hectic developments took place through the day as BCCI members continued to demand Srinivasan’s resignation.
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association senior member, Anurag Thakur called for an immediate meeting to discuss the spot-fixing controversy.
“I have requested N Srinivasan and Jagdale, to call a meeting where every member should get a chance to present his views and discuss the punishment for those guilty. A meeting has to be called by the president and secretary. It is not a numbers game. Very soon, the BCCI secretary and the president will call a meeting, we have to wait,” said Thakur, who is a joint secretary of BCCI’s working committee.
Although BCCI is mulling a tentative date to hold the meeting and is looking at June 8 as a possible date, holding the meeting at that time could be difficult as BCCI Vice President Arun Jaitley and Thakur would busy attending the national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa from June 7 to June 9.
While Thakur indicated there would be no voting in the special meeting of the BCCI, more state cricket associations are coming out against Srinivasan. After the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association asked for Srinivasan’s resignation, Assam, Delhi and Goa have openly asked the BCCI President to take moral responsibility for the actions of his family member (son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan) and resign from the top post.
However, some powerful BCCI members and state associations continue to support Srinivasan.
Soon after the controversy started, two senior members of the BCCI, Arun Jaitley and Rajiv Shukla, had asked Srinivasan to “step aside” till the probe was continuing against the role of Meiyappan in the spot fixing scandal.
“There is no doubt that cricket is shaken because it is a question of the faith of crores. Everybody wants a fair probe and that is why, we have two retired judges and the BCCI secretary probing the matter. When two judges are there, you can be assured that the enquiry would be fair,” Thakur added.
Meanwhile, Srinivasan denied that the International Cricket Council had sent a letter to the BCCI earlier this year, before the start of the Indian Premier League, with a warning on the actions of Meiyappan and the people he was meeting. “I have checked with BCCI officials. We have never received any warning on Gurunath Meiyappan,” said Srinivasan, while talking to reporters.
And in another breakthrough in the case, Delhi Police has claimed that Rajasthan Royals player Sidharth Trivedi will be made prosecution witness against S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. Trivedi has told police that Chandila had allegedly offered him money and gifts from bookies and had also invited him for a party organised by bookies.
