Two senior AAP leaders in fray for PCA office bearer elections
Senior AAP leader Kulwant Singh will contest for PCA secretary post while Deepak Bali will contest for association’s vice-president post.
4 min read
AAP leader and Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh. (File)In a first, two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh and Advisor to Punjab Heritage and Tourism Board Deepak Bali have filed their nominations for the post of secretary and vice-president respectively for the Punjab Cricket Association’s (PCA’s) upcoming elections later this month. In a notification posted on the PCA website after the first day of filing of nominations, both the AAP leaders’ names featured for the nomination of the post of secretary and vice-president of the association.
Reigning PCA president Amarjit Singh Mehta, whose son Padamjit Mehta is also an AAP leader, has filed his nomination for the post of PCA president. Sunil Gupta, who is a reigning treasurer of the association and is currently vice-chairman of the Punjab Economic Policy and Planning Board, with the rank and status of Cabinet minister, too has filed his nomination as PCA treasurer again.
“Yes, I have filed the nomination for the post of PCA secretary today. I took the decision to fight for the elections and hence I decided to file the nomination for the post of PCA secretary. I thought that I should file the nomination this time and I hope to get the support of PCA members for this election,” the Mohali MLA told The Indian Express.
While Friday is the second day for the nominations for the PCA elections, which are held after every three years, it remains to be seen if any other nominations are filed for the five posts of the office bearers of the PCA.
Kulwant, 63, is amongst the richest Punjab’s legislators with assets worth worth Rs 251 crore, according to his 2022 election affidavit. His political journey began in 1995 when he represented ward number 21 in the Mohali Municipal Council elections and served as senior vice-president of the council.
The Mohali MLA, a former mayor of Mohali, had fought the Lok Sabha elections from Fatehgarh Sahib as an SAD-BJP candidate in 2014, but lost. In March, 2022, he won from the SAS Nagar constituency in Punjab Assembly elections on an AAP ticket and defeated Congress leader Balbir Singh Sidhu by 34,097 votes.
Bali, 53, who is also the general secretary of the AAP’s Punjab unit, on the other hand, was appointed as Advisor to Punjab Heritage and Tourism Board in December last year. “We have all grown up watching and playing cricket and I hope to work for the development of the sport in Punjab if elected,” Bali told The Indian Express.
Last month, Dilsher Khanna resigned from the post of PCA secretary. Khanna, 33, an alumnus of Doon School and Delhi University and also a certified pilot, was elected as PCA secretary in 2022 with former cricketer Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal being elected as PCA president in the association’s Annual General Meeting.
Chahal had resigned four months after his election with reports of irregularities during his term coming to fore with former cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh too accusing him of being involved. Mehta was elected as PCA’s new president in February 2023.
As per BCCI constitution in line with the Supreme Court ruling, there is a nine-year tenure limit for any officer bearer, which can be served either entirely at state association, BCCI level or a combination of both. There is also a ruling of serving a three-year cooling off period after two consecutive terms of three-year each.
According to the election notice issued by Rajeev Sharma, IAS (retd), PCA Electoral officer, the nominations for the PCA elections runs till July 4 with the display of the list of eligible candidates on July 7 followed by polling if necessary on July 12.
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