Hyderabad: The Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) has raised concerns about the legality of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) election held on October 20, 2023. The TCA is demanding the recently elected HCA officials be declared invalid. They also want the state government to revoke HCA’s registration and its membership in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The TCA has called on the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to examine the involvement of individuals in the alleged misconduct. Dharam Guruva Reddy, TCA’s General Secretary, pointed out that the HCA’s 2018 Constitution is not in line with the BCCI’s rules. He noted that the HCA left out the ‘Associate Member’ clause, which is crucial for membership eligibility. The BCCI rules say institutions under this category shouldn’t have voting rights, but Reddy claims HCA allowed them to vote, similar to the Railway Promotion Board. He emphasized that representatives attending important meetings should be cricketers elected by their peers, not just appointed individuals.
According to the Justice Lodha Committee reforms, government officials and ministers should not be involved in cricket administration. IAS and IPS officers are also not supposed to attend HCA meetings. However, Reddy pointed out that during the HCA election, many institutions sent department heads, who were IAS and IPS officers, as proxies, which he claims is illegal.
Reddy further alleged that about 23 institutions voted through unauthorized individuals not listed in the approved HCA voter list. He compared this to Jagan Mohan Rao’s actions for Sri Chakra CC. He mentioned pressure from BRS Government ministers KT Rama Rao, T Harish Rao, and K Kavitha to ensure Jagan Mohan Rao’s election.
The TCA General Secretary highlighted that around 155 clubs and associations within HCA do not meet the Justice RM Lodha Committee standards. He argued that if most of the HCA General Body is non-compliant, the HCA should not continue operating with such a flawed structure.
