Bihar gains full membership

The Supreme Court's decision, on Monday (July 18), to approve all the recommendations of the Lodha Committee has come like music to Bihar, which will now enjoy full membership status in the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI), as the panel had suggested.

It basically means that the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) will be eligible to vote in the Board elections, and play in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments of the country - an opportunity which has been denied to the state's cricketers since 2001, when Jagmohan Dalmiya, the then BCCI president, dis affiliated the BCA while giving full membership to Jharkhand.

The only blow for BCA, which was granted associate membership by the BCCI in February 19 this year, is that its president Abdul Bari Siddiqui will now have to quit either the BCA, or his post as the finance minister of Bihar, since the Lodha recommendations make it clear that serving minsters and bureaucrats cannot hold a position in the Board. Presently, Bihar is the only state association in the country whose president may have to go due to this recommendation.

"We respect the Supreme Court verdict. As per the Lodha recommendations, Bihar is now a full member of the BCCI, which means that we're eligible to vote in the Board elections, and we can play in the Ranji Trophy from this season itself, which is the best news for our cricketers. Being a full member, we would now also be eligible for our share of the board's grants, which will help us build infrastructure in our state and revamp the Moin-ul-Haq stadium in Patna," Mrityunjay Tiwary, the BCA secretary, told Times of India. "We will hold our meeting soon, to study the SC verdict. Our president, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, will have to quit now because of he's also the finance minister in the state cabinet."