State polls make Cong, NCP uneasy rivals

The battle between Congress and Pawar, president of the NCP, a fortnight before the Maharashtra elections — the two are allies there — has both parties squirming. ‘‘We can’t afford to alienate Pawar,’’ said another Congress MP.

In other words, the party hopes Pawar will drop out. According to a Congress MP: ‘‘He has a readymade excuse. He can say he doesn’t want to violate the zonal principle’’ — in the BCCI rotational system, it is North Zone’s turn to get the presidency.

Pawar is from West Zone and will have to jump ship, probably to the anti-Dalmiya Punjab Cricket Association, to get a nomination. The presence of Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister and NCP leader, in Kolkata for the past two days is being seen as part of the BCCI poll process.

It has been a bizarre turnaround for Pawar, whose entry into the arena in effect destroyed BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley’s hopes. ‘‘We certainly didn’t want Jaitley to get the job,’’ a Congress functionary said, ‘‘but with him dropping out, the issue went out too. Now we want the election to be run by normal cricket board politics rather than party politics.’’

The backroom negotiations and marathon late night phone calls have seen Dalmiya mend fences with Congress — with some help from the Left — and Pawar seem less secure in his own backyard. West Zone has six affiliates in the BCCI. Once certain of all six, Pawar is now doubtful about three — including the Gujarat Cricket Association — run by Narhari Amin, a pro-Dalmiya Congressman.

• Jagmohan Dalmiya: Outgoing BCCI president, incoming patron-in-chief. Would prefer Mahendra, a ‘‘weaker’’ man he can control, to Pawar, who is backed by a range on cricket-commercial interests inimical to Dalmiya

• Sharad Pawar: NCP chief, came in to stymie Arun Jaitley and expected the Congress to play along. With Jaitley out, it’s become a prestige battle. Backed by Laloo Yadav (Railways have a vote), even amenable to a deal with Dalmiya

• Arun Jaitley: Done in by ‘‘secularism’’, could rebound if there’s a fresh alliance built around ‘‘anti-Congressism’’. While a Dalmiya ally, will Jaitley, who controls a handful of votes, back Pawar to spite the Congress?

• Ranbir Singh Mahendra: Bansi Lal’s son is the joker in the pack. Not a bigwig, so the perfect compromise candidate. An old Dalmiya man, he will not disturb existing BCCI power equations and save face for the ruling party too