DDCA elections with a bling come to an end after three intense days

For those who have been following cricket in the Capital for long, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) had never witnessed an election at a scale such as the one held on December 13, 14 and 15.

The three factions that had entered the fray went all out to garner the attention of the members of the association in such belligerent fashion that for a moment you could be mistaken into believing this election to be a poll for a parliamentary or legislative assembly seat.  

The narrow lane from the Khooni Darwaza or the Lal Darwaza that leads to the Arun Jaitley Stadium was stuffed with posters, banners and larger than life cut-outs of the candidates. Some were the size of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran effigies seen at the Ramlila maidans in the Capital during Dussehra.

Volunteers of the three groups – Rohan Jaitley-Manchanda-CK Khanna faction, Paweriya-Tihara group and the Kirti Azad-Sanjay Bhardwaj team – filled up the road and approached the visiting members who walked on the road littered with pamphlets of the candidates. So many pamphlets that the road could barely be seen on certain patches.

They wore jerseys with names of the candidates printed on them. The Jaitley group volunteers wore black tops and orange tops, the Tihara group orange tops and yellow tops while the Azad group put on blue. Some shouted slogans for their candidates. 

Golf carts were arranged by DDCA to bring the elderly to the gate of the stadium.

It was evident that these volunteers were brought there on daily wages.

“In sab ko dehaadi pe laaye hain (They have been brought on daily wages),” said a member aligned with a group who estimated that around 12-15 crore rupees in cash and kind may have been spent on the elections by all the factions together. This could be an exaggerated figure but safe to say that each group may have spent about a crore each, according to general estimates. 

Such is the pull of Delhi cricket.

The parking lot outside the stadium wore a festive look. There were four shamianas or tents. While the three large ones belonged to the three factions, the one small one belonged to Saurabh Datta who is one of the two independent candidates fighting for directors’ post.

Food, tea, coffee were all taken care of by the camps.

Inside the polling booths, there was nothing except water cans to drink from, according to those who cast votes. Water, however, was missing on Day 1 of the elections on December 13, it has been learnt.

Inside the stadium, Kirti Azad stood and greeted members. The former India cricketer and World Cup-winner has been canvassing with all his might like he did against Rohan’s father, Arun Jaitley when he held the President’s post for 14 years till 2013.

Azad had the tacit support of Siddharth Sahib Singh Verma, the former secretary, who for some reason stayed away from limelight even during canvassing. Siddharth’s brother Parvesh is a former MP and expected to fight an assembly seat from Delhi for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Azad is a Trinamool Congress MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.

Jaitley’s mother Sangeeta, the wife of late Arun Jaitley, was present at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and so was Jaitley’s sister.

The Tihara group had no Presidential candidate and he himself was the solo leader but the lively members of his group, who had ruled the erstwhile sports committee for well over a decade in the past, were seen discussing the prospects.   

For his opponents, most of his group would act as a vote-cutter than being serious contenders. However, if Tihara wins the secretary’s post as he is a heavyweight it will be really interesting to follow his relationship with Jaitley or Azad in President’s seat.

But that will be known only by Monday evening when the results are declared.

For the record, a total of 2,463 votes were cast for three days. There are around 3700 voting members who are alive.

Tags : DDCA, Delhi cricket, Kirti Azad, Rohan Jaitley, Vinod Tihara, Arun Jaitley Stadium, BJP, Trinamool Congress