HCA body extends reign, Shivlal Yadav slams power play

Hyderabad: The motion passed by members of the Hyderabad Cricket Association at the Annual General Meeting on Sunday allowing the ruling body to stay in office for eight extra months after their terms ends on September 7, has understandably not gone down well with the opposition camp.

The most disillusioned of them is N. Shivlal Yadav, a former Test cricketer who has held various positions in the HCA as well as the national cricket set up before retiring as BCCI’s interim president in 2014.

“I have retired and do not want to interfere (in HCA affairs) but this is too much. Just not on. They bulldozed their way through,” an annoyed Shivlal said of the motion passed by 137 members (out of 217) which allowed president Arshad Ayub and his team an extended run as a ‘one-time correction measure’ and hold elections in May next year.

The root cause for the present situation is the lack of respect for the constitution — which calls for biennial elections in May — by ruling groups over the years. Elections in 2010 were held on August 22; on July 8 in 2012 and on September 7 in 2014. The last one, having come after an amendment to the constitution that warranted an Executive Committee member to complete ‘a full term of two years’ to be eligible to contest for the post of an office-bearer has been the rallying point for the ruling group, which led to the ‘one-time correction’ proposal. They contend it is only fair taking into account the EC members’ future plans.

Shivlal, who registered his dissent and walked out of Sunday’s meeting after submitting a memorandum signed by 80 members, is shaken though. “I can’t imagine a committee is going ahead with holding office without elections! This is totally undemocratic, something that has never happened in HCA history. This is like Emergency under (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi in 1975,” he told this correspondent.

The former HCA secretary feels at least the approach could have been better. “They could have called for a Special General Meeting in September and put forward the proposal, which would at least seem logical. But to do this now points to their hunger to hang on to power,” Shivlal said.

He was also peeved by the power play. “Cricket has gone to dogs,” Shivlal said.

“Neither did any member talk about the game nor did the president bring it up at the august meeting. Come to think of it, the current group contested polls on the ‘Cricket First’ slogan,” the 59-year-old added.

“The HCA is a temple and we all are its custodians. No seat in the Association is permanent. There is law. There is justice. How can anyone go beyond tenure?” he questioned.