Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said he does not want to oppose the appointment of BJP National President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Hindustan Times reported. There has been criticism about Jay Shah’s appointment as the BCCI secretary.

“It is all right,” Pawar told reporters. “Ultimately, it is the responsibility of every state association – they select their colleagues and leaders and that team selects their office bearers of the BCCI. So from that aspect, I had not seen the news, I just heard about Sourav Ganguly, other names I had not seen also. If they are selected, elected by their own bodies, how can I oppose?”

However, Karti Chidambaram, the son of Congress leader P Chidambaram, was not pleased at Jay Shah’s appointment. “What if I had been “elected” as @BCCI Secretary during UPA when my father was @HMOIndia, how would the “Nationalists” n Bhakts have reacted?” Karti Chidambaram tweeted. “#JustAsking.”

Sourav Ganguly will be the BCCI chief and Jay Shah the secretary, while Arun Dhumal, the brother of former BCCI President and Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, will be the treasurer.

Ganguly, a veteran 113 Tests and 311 ODIs, on Monday filed his nominations papers for the post of BCCI president in Mumbai. The 47-year-old is expected to be elected unopposed at the board’s Annual General Meeting on October 23. Ganguly will hold the post of the BCCI president for nine months. He will have to demit office in July 2020, due to compulsory cooling off period.


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