The swish cricket club with a substantial member base puts on its 'ballot' shoes for a high-profile election
If it is September, it must be club elections. Most Mumbai clubs are scheduled to finish their Annual General Meeting (AGM) this weekend. The iconic Cricket Club of India (CCI), where election fever is at high pitch, will see members cast their ballots for some of the prestigious posts on the city's club circuit this Friday (Sept 28) and Saturday (Sept 29).
Rumours abound
Three men are contesting for the President's post. There is Premal Udani, who took the reins of CCI after the demise of president Kekoo Nicholson, six months ago. Udani said, "I want to state categorically though, that this club is considered the best in the country by many, but there should be a new benchmark, to be best in the world."
Udani dismissed the buzz that he had proposed some kind of parking facility and such on the East Stand land, a controversial proposal that was unpopular with a section of the club members. Udani shot back, "I have not proposed anything like that. These are baseless rumours, which start around this time. The club does not have FSI, so how can there be any construction? This is an attempt to build castles in the air and my work will speak for itself."
Eggs and toast
Darayus Mehta, currently heading the Food & Beverages (F & B) committee, simply said, "We have a healthy corpus and I want to secure that." On criticism and there are huge losses in the F&B section, Mehta shot back. "There are a couple of misinformed individuals who are targeting me for no reason. This is a 'conscious loss' and a collective decision because our food is heavily subsidised and it is very good. Where can you get fried eggs and toast for some 30 odd rupees?" A member claimed that the club has, "A corpus of R620 crore, and some who are pointing fingers at F&B losses have no compunction spending lakhs on snooker tourneys."
Hopes and ambition
For candidate No 3, Naval Pandole who is the club's vice-president, "Just like the vice-captain of a cricket team may hope or have some ambition to lead the team one day, this is something like this." On charges that he is arrogant and short tempered, and has been dubbed 'Operation Blue Star' because of a controversy involving a general's wife who was called out by him for smoking in the club in a no-smoking zone, Pandole clarified his role which was very measured as disciplinary committee member in the controversy. He also dismissed allegations that he was arrogant or rude. All these though seem mere bumps compared to the tempest the CCI has seen in the past. With a good looking corpus and smooth going, this club is batting on a good wicket. Candidates are padded up in the pavilion for what should be a healthy, democratic and always exciting battle of the ballot.
1933
Year in which the Cricket Club of India was founded
Three
Number of candidates contesting for the President's post
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