Campaigning starts for full-fledged DDCA election next month

A top Delhi Police officer has sent an invitation to “all respected” members of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to “join us to celebrate get together party” (sic) on November 10 evening at a posh location in central Delhi. The purpose of the event, though not explicitly mentioned in the invitation, is believed to be a campaign gathering to garner support for a candidate in the upcoming DDCA elections.

The RSVP on the multimedia invitation card, sent to all 4,200-odd members, bears his name and that of a former DDCA secretary. The cop, a life member of the DDCA, has not mentioned the reason for the get-together on the card, but sources say he is backing the former secretary.

This is just one instance of the gatherings being organised these days as part of campaigns by various ‘groups’ in the lead-up to the full-fledged DDCA elections from December 13-15, being held according to an order of the Delhi High Court. This time, elections will be held for all 18 members of the apex council, including five office-bearers.

The ongoing canvassing by various potential candidates includes multimedia and one-to-one meetings. Telephone calls, as well as voice and text messages on various specially formed WhatsApp groups, are bombarding inboxes of members’ mobile phones these days. “It is impossible to reach out to so many members physically for any candidate. So, we are relying heavily on phone calls and WhatsApp messages to put our message across to the voters,” one of the members who is set to contest told Patriot.

“Also, many DDCA members live outside Delhi, so the campaign has to be organised clinically to travel out of Delhi to meet members as vehicles are needed for that. To get votes, it is important for the candidates’ face to be recognised easily by members,” he explained.

Various groups

Several groups have been formed of the potential candidates. However, these groups are still tentative, as members are negotiating alliances and assessing each other’s strengths. Everyone is testing everyone else and bargaining is on. “Concrete groups would be formed only after the date of withdrawal of nominations at 4 pm on December 3, when the ballot numbers would be allotted by the election officer,” said a senior member.

According to the timeline issued by Achal Kumar Joti, a former Election Commissioner of India, the publication of names of the contesting candidates would be made at 3 pm on December 4. After that, candidates will get eight more days for canvassing. The three-day polling will start on December 13 and the results will be declared on December 16.

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Several sitting members of the apex council, headed by president Rohan Jaitley, eligible to contest are expected to contest again. They include Rohan, son of late Union minister and DDCA president Arun Jaitley, who first won the election in November 2020, after Rajat Sharma resigned unexpectedly after just 16 months in the president’s chair.

New challenger

In 2020, Rohan was elected unanimously after getting resounding support from all the powerful groups within the DDCA. This time, however, former India cricketer Kirti Azad, who remained at loggerheads with Arun Jaitley for almost his entire tenure as DDCA president (1999-2013), is expected to challenge his son for the top post.

Azad has been campaigning using multimedia platforms, besides meeting members in person. He has underlined his war cry as a ‘vote for change’. Rohan, on the other hand, has so far kept his cards close to his chest. His supporters insist that he would contest again, but candidates for the other posts haven’t been firmed up yet.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi and has covered sports for over three decades)