Rajinder Gupta has been elected president of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) at its annual general meeting in Chandigarh on Sunday. While Gupta, an industrialist, succeeded DP Reddy, RP Singla and Ajay Tyagi were elected secretary and treasurer respectively. Two joint-secretaries, three vice-presidents and 14 members to the executive committee were also elected. According to the PCA, the election was conducted by the electoral officer, and all the candidates were elected unanimously.
The PCA also said the elections were held “after making amendments to its memorandum and articles of the association in accordance with the recommendations of Lodha Committee and as accepted by the Honourable Supreme Court of India and a format circulated by the Committee of Administrators [CoA]”. However, the CoA needs to verify these claims and attest to the same.
Last week, the Punjab Cricket Players’ Association (PCPA) had alleged nepotism in the PCA. Former Punjab batsman Rakesh Handa, who is the secretary of the PCPA, said relatives of former office-bearers were handed out memberships to the PCA.
“The sons of a brother of Mr [MP] Pandove [former president] and GS Walia [former secretary] have been given memberships,” he was quoted as saying by the Tribune. “What criteria has PCA adopted in giving membership to family members of office-bearers?” Incidentally, former president IS Bindra’s son Amarinder was one of the three vice-presidents elected on Sunday.
Handa had also alleged a lack of transparency in the manner in which the construction of a new stadium at Mullanpur was being carried out. “Why have they not given all the details regarding the purchase of land for the stadium, and of tenders of construction worth Rs 154 crore on PCA’s website?” he said. “Neither the ad-hoc committee nor the majority of PCA members know what is really happening in PCA. We’ll inform CoA about all this.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo