Shillong, Dec 4: In a serious challenge to the functioning of the Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA), the Shillong Cricket Association (SCA) today sharply criticised the scheduled MCA Apex Council elections planned for 9th December, calling them “fundamentally defective” and “constitutionally indefensible”.
In a strongly worded press release, the SCA said that an inquiry has been ordered into the conduct of the elections by the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills after the association apprised her of the “potential multiple violations in the MCA election schedule”.
In a separate letter the SCA attached to the press release, SCA President Peter Macdonald Kharsawian and General Secretary Desarius Banri Kharmalki urged the appointed electoral officer to immediately declare the current election process null and void and restart the entire exercise in line with the BCCI’s election framework and MCA constitution.
The SCA’s objections to the process are four-fold, namely that voter identities were suppressed, the objection window and campaign window was unacceptably short, the venue for the election unclear and publication of the final electoral roll delayed.
Regarding the first point, the SCA claimed that the MCA only released a list of affiliated member associations rather than the names of representatives of these member associations.
“This forced candidates to file nominations “blind” without knowing their voter base or being able to assess winning chances and the names of representatives were uploaded on the MCA website only after closure of nominations,” which the SCA termed a “deliberate assault on transparency and a level playing field.”
The BCCI schedule provides two full days of objections to the draft electoral roll after publication of the names of representatives but the MCA allowed less than 24 hours, the SCA added, and “did so at a time when the names of individual representatives were not even disclosed, effectively nullifying the statutory right of objection.”
Furthermore, while the BCCI model ensures at least nine days of campaigning after finalisation of the electoral roll, candidates in the MCA election have only six real days after delayed publication of representative names on 3rd December, the SCA complained.
As to the issue of venue, all the election processes so far have been conducted at the MCA office in Shillong. However, the venue where the votes are actually cast has not been specified and “past practice shows that elections have often been held away from the headquarters without explanation.” At the time of the last election, in 2022, the vote was conducted in Umbir, Ri-Bhoi.
Lastly, the SCA pointed to what it described as a direct violation of the BCCI-mandated rule, mirrored in the MCA constitution, “that the final electoral roll must be published not later than one week before the annual general meeting”. The SCA said that the MCA’s final list of representatives was released only six days before the scheduled election on 9th December “without reopening objections”, which the SCA termed “a clear breach of mandatory procedure and a deliberate attempt to insulate a tainted electoral roll from scrutiny.”
All these issues amount to more than “minor technical lapses” but are in fact “a concerted attempt to skew outcomes, undermine free and fair elections and erode confidence in cricket governance in Meghalaya.”
Whether or not the SCA objections are upheld or not, this very public airing of discontent demonstrates that there is a serious breach of harmony between the MCA and the SCA, the latter being one of the most prominent district associations affiliated to the state body.
