Lalit Modi among 23 ‘outsiders’ BJP wants to remove from BCA

While the BJP claims that 49 members in the BCA are outsiders who do not reside in Vadodara, the party’s list names only 23. Apart from Lalit Modi, the list of 23 names include Sangramsinh Gaekwad of the erstwhile Gaekwad dynasty of Baroda as well as several residents of Mumbai, Nadiad, Anand, Surat, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad.

BJP Vadodara unit President Dr Vijay Shah stated it was “imperative” to cancel the membership of the 49 outsiders. “In their place, if local residents of Vadodara are inducted as members, as per the Constitution of BCA, cricket in Vadodara will head in a new direction. The BCA must check the list of existing members and delete all those members, whose current address of residence is not Vadodara.

The BCA committee must induct members as per the provisions of their Constitution,” Shah said in an official release.

“As per the Constitution of the BCA, any person who has completed 18 years of age and is a resident of Vadodara, or any club or institution within the jurisdiction of the association, desirous of becoming members of the association, should become a member of the Association,” the release stated.

Addressing a press conference Friday, Shah and Vadodara BJP MP Ranjan Bhatt contended that only persons belonging to “certain families and industries” were made BCA members. “Since 2001-02, no new members have been included in BCA… A total of 2,367 members of the BCA includes a majority of people working in one company, one cooperative bank or certain families or communities… Many of them do not even watch cricket or know how many players are part of a cricket team and some of them have never even been to a cricket stadium,” Shah said, demanding that the issue must be discussed in the upcoming AGM.

Shah and Bhatt also questioned the presence of Modi’s name on the list of members despite him being accused of misconduct and financial irregularities in the cricket administration.

“It is displeasing and surprising to see that a fugitive like Lalit Modi is also a member of the BCA. He was anyway always a resident of Mumbai and it is not known how he became a member of BCA… Those who have left Vadodara city should automatically also lose their BCA membership, as per the rules,” Shah said.