Rohan Jaitley, the incumbent president of the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), secured a second consecutive term on Monday after a closely contested election against Kirti Azad. Jaitley, son of former Union minister Arun Jaitley, garnered 1,577 votes, defeating Azad, who received 777 votes. A total of 2,413 votes were cast, with 1,207 required to win.
Jaitley’s team dominated the elections, securing all key positions. For the vice president’s post, Shikha Kumar won with 1,246 votes, defeating Rakesh Kumar Bansal (536 votes) and Sudhir Kumar Agarwal (498 votes). Ashok Sharma, backed by Jaitley’s group, emerged victorious as secretary, while Harish Singla secured the treasurer’s position with 1,049 votes. Amit Grover clinched the joint secretary’s post in this high-stakes contest.
Kirti Azad, a member of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning team and a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur, campaigned on allegations of widespread corruption within the DDCA. He claimed that the association spent only a small portion of the ₹140 crore received from the BCCI last year.
Rohan Jaitley first entered cricket administration four years ago and was elected DDCA president. Under his leadership, Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium hosted five ODI World Cup matches last year, and the inaugural Delhi Premier League T20 tournament was launched, featuring players like Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma.
Azad’s allegations of corruption aren’t new. In 2015, he accused Arun Jaitley of financial irregularities in the DDCA. This led to his suspension from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2015 and eventual expulsion in 2019. Azad later joined the Congress before switching to the TMC in 2021.