DDCA to hold election on 30 June; much-criticised proxy voting system abolished

New Delhi: The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA)’s election will be held on 30 June, without the much-criticised proxy voting system, as per the direction issued by administrator Justice Vikramajit Sen. The proxy system of voting which has been considered by many as the root cause of corruption in DDCA has been done away with as Justice Sen released an 11-point model of code of conduct for election of members of the executive committee. [caption id=“attachment_4112513” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. Getty[/caption] Point No 5 of Code of Conduct states: “Proxy voting is not allowed as per Lodha Committee recommendations, accepted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as well as the Articles of Association of DDCA. As per proxy system, the members of DDCA were not required to be present at the election booth in order to cast their vote. It was believed that candidates would just gather proxies and win elections at a canter. During the last DDCA election on December, 2013, Bishan Singh Bedi fighting for president’s post lost to the tainted Sneh Bansal within 40 minutes of the start of election. It was believed that Bansal group submitted a huge number of proxies even before the former India captain could arrive at the venue. BCCI acting president CK Khanna welcomed the move to abolish proxy system. “You have to believe me that I am the happiest person today that proxy system has been done away with. Over the years, I have been unfairly targetted by a lot of people. I am not fighting this elections but obviously I will be tracking it with keen interest. A lot of misconceptions will get cleared after June 30,” Khanna told PTI. As per the administrator’s instructions, the list of all voting members/voters will be put up on association’s website by 15 May. From 21 to 25 May, the receipt of nominations will be accepted at the DDCA headquarters at Feroze Shah Kotla. The candidates can withdraw their nomination by 30 May and on 1 June, the final list will be published. From 4 to 26 June, the candidates of various groups will be allowed to campaign. The candidates have also been barred from bringing voter-members in a vehicle at the venue. No election-related banners or pamphlets would be allowed inside the Feroze Shah Kotla premises.