Guwahati, June 12: Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and businessman Pradip Buragohain were selected president and secretary respectively of the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) for the next four years in its annual general meeting at Barsapara Cricket Stadium here today.
The ACA followed its tradition of selecting office-bearers instead of elections after outgoing president Gautam Roy proposed it in view of new president Sarma's constraints for time.
The meeting selected Manindra Nath Saikia of Dibrugarh as the treasurer and Parimal Singha of Bongaigaon the secretary of the umpires' board.
The posts of vice-presidents witnessed most of the changes with only former international umpire Nilay Dutta retaining his post.
Babul Hore (Silchar) replaced Congress MP Ranee Narah from Barak Valley. Parikhit Dutta (Golaghat) replaced Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain. Romen Dutta (Nazira) replaced Brajen Gohain. Anil Borah (Tezpur) replaced Rup Kamal Kakati.
Devajit Saikia (Guwahati) came in place of Sarma and Rihan Daimari (Udalguri) in place of A.G. Zaman.
Narah had a dramatic exit after her proposal for a quota of vice-president from women's cricket was vehemently contested by outgoing secretary Bikash Baruah on constitutional grounds. Being a former cricketer herself, she will, however, have an option to get the president's nomination as a governing body member.
Though Hussain's name was on the cards till the last moment, Sarma and Roy, who were entrusted by the general body to select the office-bearers, could not retain him because of his absence from the meeting.
State Congress chief Anjan Dutta who also could not attend the meeting because of illness, was also shown the door.
Former umpires' board secretary Abdul Khaleque who was an aspirant for the treasurer post, made a surprise exit from the list of office-bearers. Sources said his named figured till the final pruning by Sarma and Roy.
Sanjib Handique (Golaghat) and Muktabul Hussain (Charaideo) were selected joint secretaries along with incumbent Ajay Sarmah, while Kamakhya Saikia (Dibrugarh) was named as one of the four assistant secretaries; the others being incumbents Imdad Hussain, Sushanta Biswa Sarma and Sujit Chowdhury.
The governing body members include Sanatan Das, Amol Baruah, Biswanath Saha, Ratul Teron, Prakash Deka, Pradip Hazarika, Achyut Borthakur, Rajesh Borah, Bhakti Medhi, Brajen Gohain and Pranabjit Chaliha along with outgoing secretary Baruah and treasurer Ghanashyam Boruah as ex-officio members.
While chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal was named the chief patron, outgoing president Roy and state sports minister Naba Doley were nominated patrons.
The meeting also passed the financial accounts of the past six years for which the ACA is battling pending litigations in court.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur wished Sarma for his new election. In his tweet, Thakur said: "Congratulations to a friend and ACA's newly elected President @himantabiswa. I hope you will take Assam cricket to new heights."
