The much-anticipated vice-president’s election of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was held yesterday with board directors Mahbubul Anam and AZM Nasiruddin winning the poll for the two posts. Mahbubul, who has served as a BCB vice-president for around eight years, led the race with 21 votes followed by Nasiruddin with 17.
The third candidate of the contest, BCB director Najib Ahmed, managed to bag only eight votes. 23 out of the 26 voters participated in the poll. BCB president Nazmul Hasan decided not to vote as he wanted to prove himself neutral while two board directors, Iqbal Yousuf and Sheikh Sohel, failed to cast their votes due to personal reasons.
Four directors, on the other hand, who are not in the country, put in their votes through e-mail and texts. The main attraction of the election was the contest between Mahbubul and Najib. Najib’s submission of nomination paper on the very last day added a late twist to the contest and it was learnt from BCB sources that Najib was made to participate in the poll by a group of board directors with the aim of competing with Mahbubul.
It is understood that a particular group inside the board believed Mahbubul should make way in order to freshen up the post.
However, Najib and Co’s mission was ruined with Mahbubul winning the race by a heavy margin. According to BCB sources, Najib got a hint that he would lose right on the eve of the election due to which he tried to pull out his name from the contest at the last minute.
He had even walked out of the BCB meeting room but his efforts were in vain as the constitution does not allow any last minute withdrawals. This had created some tension in the board office premises but BCB chief Nazmul said to the media that the election was held systematically and in order.
When asked to describe Najib’s reaction after the results were declared, Nazmul said, “His (Najib) reaction was totally fine. To be honest he was the first one to rush to the two winners in order to congratulate them. This happened in front of everyone as we all were in the same room.”
In order to eliminate any potential difference suggestions over reaching a consensus regarding the two ceremonial BCB posts were made by a few directors. The election took place among a very selective group so at the end of the day everyone would get to know who voted for whom.
However, newly-elected vice-president Mahbubul believes the election will not create any dispute amongst the committee members. “All the board directors and the three candidates had met in a get-together yesterday (Monday) where we discussed and reached a common ground that election is just only a process. But we all will maintain the bonding because we have to work together for the betterment of cricket of the country,” said Mahbubul.
On the other hand, Nasiruddin, who is also the chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, said getting elected meant people will now expect him to work hard.
