He submitted affidavits from BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhary, vice-president TC Mathew and joint secretary of Kerala Cricket Association Jayesh George that said Srinivasan was already seated when the meeting began, and that nobody had objected to his presence.
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“Those present wanted the new administration, more precisely the new president, to take measures that will restore the Board’s credibility”, the source said without elaborating on the matter of snooping and hacking.
The latest developments may just deal a final blow to Tamil Nadu strongman whose influence in the board has diminished since the last election.
In his plea, Srinivasan referred to the application moved by the BCCI, seeking a clarification from the top court as to whether he can be allowed to attend its meetings amid allegations of conflict of interest.
“Shashank Manohar is our consensus candidate“, Thakur told reporters, adding that if an election happens, “N Srinivasan can come and vote at the meeting”.
That has the left the path clear for Shashank Manohar who is seen to be agreeable to both the factions and has the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party as well, the party in power at the centre, while also possessing considerable infleunce in the board’s affairs.
The members who attended the meeting also raised concerns about the top officials’ internal mails finding their way to the media with worrying regularity.
Srinivasan has based his plea on perjury charges against Thakur for the “false affidavit” and “plethora of misleading” statements.
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Srinivasan was earlier in the year asked by the Supreme Court to step aside as the BCCI president to facilitate investigation of the 2013 IPL scandal. His previous stint also saw BCCI take a strong position against the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In a nutshell, thanks to Srinivasan offering his group’s backing to Pawar that the Nagpur lawyer managed to checkmate his bete noire from TNCA. That’s why the names of IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla and Jharkhand Cricket Association (JCA) president Amitabh Chaudhary were floated to create a confusion amongst three different lobbies controlling 29 votes (30 in total, but Rajasthan is suspended). Srinivasan and Manohar go back a long way.
