Pawar effect leaves Bagan in disarray

The power games of Sharad Pawar have put Jagmohan Dalmiya and his faithfuls out of orbit and it looks like Mohun Bagan8217;s new office-bea...

The power games of Sharad Pawar have put Jagmohan Dalmiya and his faithfuls out of orbit and it looks like Mohun Bagan8217;s new office-bearers are going about eliminating their rivals in much the same way.

The elections to the BCCI sounded the deathknell for the 20-year reign of Dalmiya and the Mohun Bagan elections, held earlier this year, have resulted in assistant secretary Balaram Chowdhury8217;s presence being weeded out of the club.

The much-hyped elections at the club in September saw a return to the fold of secretary Anjan Mitra and his associates and no sooner did they return to power after a two-year hiatus that the plot to give the old order the boot began to be hatched.

The first on the radar was coach Amal Dutta who had just won the Kolkata Premier League title, defeating arch-rivals East Bengal twice on the way. Dutta8217;s apprehension grew everyday and his performance took a beating, the team failing to make it past the first round in the Federation Cup and then falling in the group stage in the IFA Shield.

True to his wont, Dutta shot off his mouth against the officials, exactly what Mitra had been waiting for. With Dutta gone, there was no way assistant coach Satyajit Chatterjee would have stayed since it was the former who had appointed him. The coaches had been taken care of and next was the turn of the footballers that Chowdhury and Dutta had picked.

The first target was Togolese striker Yao Rodrigue Gley, the man who had been recruited by Chowdhury and who had skipped his country8217;s World Cup qualifier to play against East Bengal in the Kolkata Premier League. Though he scored the winner on both occasions new coach Jahar Das asked the officials to release him the first day after taking office.

That was yesterday. Today it was Nigerian striker Akeem Abolanle who had been recruited for the Federation Cup by Dutta. By releasing him as well, Mitra has ensured that Chowdhury8217;s short legacy at the helm of affairs has remained just that 8212; short.