Sharad Pawar and Arun Jaitley eye BCCI top spot

The contest for the post of the BCCI president has taken a twist, with two major politicians expected to throw their names into the fray. The position will be vacated by Jagmohan Dalmiya at the end of September, as he commences his duties as patron-in-chief, a title he created recently.

Sharad Pawar, a former defense minister and now president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, is expected to take on Arun Jaitley, a former cabinet minister from the BJP, to be the North Zone's candidate for president, according to The Times of India. While zones take turns to elect a new president, the candidate selected is usually from the area itself - Pawar, of course, is a West Zone man. There is a precedent for such zone-hopping, though - in 1993, IS Bindra, a resident of Chandigarh in North India, was elected from the West Zone, and in 1990, Madhavrao Scindia, who is from Madhya Pradesh in Central India, was elected from the North Zone.

This development represents a threat to Dalmiya's position. As patron-in-chief, Dalmiya was widely expected to retain control of the board, with the president being a subordinate figure to him. But both Pawar and Jaitley are powerful mainstream politicians who will, if elected, want to take over the turf entirely. The lobbying for power within the BCCI in the months to come promises to make for a fascinating study in political manoeuvring.