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[ruchir]

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14476343&vsv=SHGTslot5


Will Lalu become cricket board chief in 2008?
Thursday, 21 June , 2007, 07:58

New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is set to be re-elected the Indian cricket board chief for a final third term in September. Come 2008, there could be a surprise successor - Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

For more news, analysis click here>>

Although Lalu himself has not made his position clear, people close to him have already begun lobbying among key officials of the Board of Cricket Cricket of India (BCCI).

Should this happen, it will be the culmination of a journey that Lalu Prasad - who is the president of the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) - began in 2001 when he backed industrialist A C Muthiah against Jagmohan Dalmiya for the presidency of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Muthiah lost and Dalmiya regained control of Indian cricket after completing a two-year term as head of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

One of the first things that Dalmiya did as BCCI chief was to disaffiliate the BCA that Lalu Prasad headed and enabled him to vote in the BCCI elections. Lalu became the BCA president after stepping down as state chief minister.

Since then, Lalu Prasad has become a confirmed Dalmiya baiter as the BCA did not have a vote for four years - three years under Dalmiya and for the one year when Ranbir Singh Mahendra was in power.

In 2005, when Mahendra bid for re-election, Lalu Prasad played a key role in ensuring the support of institutional voters like the railways, services and universities to enable Pawar wrest the post.

Now making a secret pitch for Lalu - who has never played cricket himself - are BCA officials, including several former Bihar players who have turned out for the domestic Ranji Trophy cricket tournament.

"I think Laluji is the ideal person to run the BCCI. After the way he stood up to Dalmiya when the BCA was removed from the BCCI and Jharkhand given its vote, Laluji has been closely following the goings-on in Indian cricket," a senior BCA official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS on telephone from Patna.

"It is only a question of convincing the members, and several affiliated units are keen on the idea of Laluji taking over from Pawar next year after the way he has turned around the fortunes of Indian Railways," added the official.

The official appeared to suggest that the succession issue was already decided and had the blessings of the current BCCI brass.

After all, with the Dalmiya faction likely to make a pitch once again, the ruling clique needs a strong candidate to maintain its hold on the cash-rich BCCI.

The recent fiascos over players' contracts and TV rights for offshore games as well as the Afro-Asia Cup may have strongly dented the hopes of the likes of vice-presidents Lalit Modi and Shashank Manohar as Pawar's likely successors.

Modi, known for his marketing acumen, has filled the BCCI coffers with innovative selling of Indian cricket rights, while Manohar, a Pawar confidante, is a leading advocate from Nagpur. And though strong on legal issues, he has little backing from fellow BCCI administrators.

The situation is thus ripe for Lalu Prasad to throw his hat into the ring, say many of Lalu Prasad's backers in the BCCI. With his political clout in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), it may not be very difficult for the railway minister to gather enough support once more for the ruling group.

The only hitch in Lalu Prasad taking over the BCCI is the strong Maratha lobby led by former BCCI chief Rajsingh Dungarpur, who has on several occasions publicly opposed any suggestions by the Bihar strongman to project himself as Pawar's likely successor.

This lobby's West Zone covers only two states - Maharashtra and Gujarat - but commands a whopping six votes including that of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) run by Dungarpur. The CCI chief wields considerable influence in the West and can prove a stumbling block for the railway minister.

"Laluji is keen to speak to Dungarpur whenever he gets the chance. The September elections could be the best opportunity, especially with Pawar on hand to broker peace between the two," said the BCA official who has so far been representing Bihar in BCCI meetings, given Lalu Prasad's busy schedule as minister.

BCCI officials refused to comment on the succession issue.

"We have to first get the next elections out of the way, before we can even think about 2008. Right now everybody is busy finding a new coach," Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's chief administrative officer, said from Mumbai.

Such a line of thinking would appear to give Lalu Prasad a head-start since he has started testing the waters through the BCA officials close to him.

Institutional votes from railways, services and universities are seen as a mere formality for the former Bihar chief minister. Besides, he could trigger a split in the votes from eastern states like Jharkhand and Orissa, both of whom are known Dalmiya backers.

If that happens, Lalu Prasad would be a shoo-in to take over from Pawar as the next BCCI chief in September 2008.

[justforkix]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

[ruchir]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

Sir, don't for a second think that Railways is running all healthy and hunky-dory. Various audits have thrown a startling reason for Railways showing profits. Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum. That's why, with drastically lower expenses, Railways is showing profits.

If you want BCCI to be run like that, Ram save the team then... 

[justforkix]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

Sir, don't for a second think that Railways is running all healthy and hunky-dory. Various audits have thrown a startling reason for Railways showing profits. Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum. That's why, with drastically lower expenses, Railways is showing profits.

If you want BCCI to be run like that, Ram save the team then... 

I'm talking just in terms of profits and final numbers, but the general visible improvement in the standards of railways, trains, and services. I'm also not saying that Railways has no probs at all. It is still bad, but much better than what it was before. Lalu is not a saint and Railways is not devoid of problems. But some good is better than no good. I do not mind giving Laloo the BCCI Cheif post. Hey, it cannot get any worse than what BCCI is now, right

[RicePlateReddy]

Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum.

That is tactical thinking much appreciated at Harvard and Wharton. Lalu's reasoning is that naxalites blow up the tracks and trains anyway, so why waste money upgrading them for the long term?

[fineleg]

Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum.

That is tactical thinking much appreciated at Harvard and Wharton. Lalu's reasoning is that naxalites blow up the tracks and trains anyway, so why waste money upgrading them for the long term?

What a crook this Lalu, if indeed maintenance is being ignored.

[ruchir]

Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum.

That is tactical thinking much appreciated at Harvard and Wharton. Lalu's reasoning is that naxalites blow up the tracks and trains anyway, so why waste money upgrading them for the long term?

That, sir, is the reason people continue to love Lalu. It's his keen sense of looking at the larger picture, rather than his bufoonery, that endears him to everyone. 

[LosingNow]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

Sir, don't for a second think that Railways is running all healthy and hunky-dory. Various audits have thrown a startling reason for Railways showing profits. Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum. That's why, with drastically lower expenses, Railways is showing profits.

Ruchir..while what you write may be true.. revenues are up and utilization of resources & wagons is up..stations are cleaner, passenger's view of service has improved. Profits are not up just because of reduction in expenses!!

[inoc]

while i dont like lalu the politician i have to congratulate him for what he has done for the indian railways.

indian railways historically underfunded safety/track renewal schemes and other such related issues. taking that into account the indian goverment released 17000 crores for such issues in 2001. 5000 crores of which was to be realised from the indian railways itself over a period of three years which ended in 2003-04. a couple of years before lalu became the railways minister.

there is no doubt that lalu gained from such massive cash input just preceding his time but he has not shied away from the responsilbility of spending money in this regard. an example is his budgeted expentidure for this year, 6000 + crore on track renewal and safety, compare that with the 5000 crore supposed to be provided by the railways over 3 years and the 12000 that the government of india spent over the same period of time.
that he is not spending on infrastructure is just wrong.

lalu was also fortunate that india had a sustained and unprecedented economic growth during this time.

all this however does not take away from the visible improvement that the indian railways has shown in the last two years. dont take my word for it just go home and take a ride. of course a lot more needs to be done but hey we are going in the right direction.

i can remember standing in a queue all day to buy a ticket 60 days in advance - now you can get it online, no queues at the ticket counter and even from the local panwala (as is rumoured - not first hand experience) - to raise just one aspect. the cleaniless and passenger friendliness is beyond compare. not up to western standards yet but what else is?

[inoc]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

Sir, don't for a second think that Railways is running all healthy and hunky-dory. Various audits have thrown a startling reason for Railways showing profits. Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum. That's why, with drastically lower expenses, Railways is showing profits.

Ruchir..while what you write may be true.. revenues are up and utilization of resources & wagons is up..stations are cleaner, passenger's view of service has improved. Profits are not up just because of reduction in expenses!!

losing now

to add to what you said above -
annual expenditure in 2004 was 14,500 crores
2007 is 31000 + crores.

[justforkix]

Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum.

That is tactical thinking much appreciated at Harvard and Wharton. Lalu's reasoning is that naxalites blow up the tracks and trains anyway, so why waste money upgrading them for the long term?

What a crook this Lalu, if indeed maintenance is being ignored.

This is just a blank statement...... Why not observe the overall improvement in railways services before and after Lalu?? While Lalu is no saint, one must appreciate if someone does something good even if he's eating money in the process. It is better to eat money while doing good than eat money while doing nothing or worsening the existing infra.

[Jai]

Justforkix just now offered justification to Finey.......once again !!!

[inoc]

Justforkix just now offered justification to Finey.......once again !!!

but he is no getafix 

PS i hope you are

[fineleg]

Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum.

That is tactical thinking much appreciated at Harvard and Wharton. Lalu's reasoning is that naxalites blow up the tracks and trains anyway, so why waste money upgrading them for the long term?

What a crook this Lalu, if indeed maintenance is being ignored.

This is just a blank statement...... Why not observe the overall improvement in railways services before and after Lalu?? While Lalu is no saint, one must appreciate if someone does something good even if he's eating money in the process. It is better to eat money while doing good than eat money while doing nothing or worsening the existing infra.

LP is actually one step higher than JJ in corruption, so that 'no saint' does not even cut close.
He seemed to be redeeming himself one tiny weeny bit with the Railways thingy, but if he is screwing up on Maint and Safety then that is a big issue.

[inoc]

whatever

[fineleg]

Hmm looks like you've missed reading about LP's glorious corruptions and their proportions 

[inoc]

whatever you say

[fineleg]

whatever you say

 

[inoc]

colourful idiot at best

[fineleg]

colourful idiot at best

lpy is

[inoc]

whatever

i am enjoying this now

[ruchir]

LN, INOC --

Read what you said, specially the figures. Since you are quoting them, I will take your word for it. My assessment was based on some Analysis reports I read on Rediff. Before you discredit them, since they appeared on Rediff, they were not written by Rediff staffers. They were written by business experts, University professors contributing on Rediff. They had analyzed Railway's budget, CAG's Railway Audit reports, compared Railways budgeted spending against CAG's Audit.

I completely understand that stations look cleaner, people are happy because of cleanliness etc. That's what I tried to say earlier. Lalu did a good face-lift job. That made every one happy because people actually saw some change. But these experts said that it was just that -- a face lift job. Budgeted spendings on maintenance, safety etc. were multi fold more than actual spendings, per CAG report. Unless you do this kind of comparison, on the face it will look like Railways is spending a lot of various things, that it acutally is not spending on.

As for standing in queue or not, for tickets, Rail tickets were computerised in New Delhi 15 years ago. Sure Lalu can't take credit for it!!    I have hardly travelled in Indian Rails in past 9 years, so I have no first hand information on how Stations look, or how service is. My only source of information is the reports I read on Rediff etc. and what my parents tell me when they travel. They don't complain of dirtiness or lack of service. So you are correct, that aspect has improved. But it's the hidden things brought up by analysing CAG report that look more troubling.

[inoc]

ruchir

phew, back to sensible discussions. i agree with you that not all that is shining is lalus achievement. if you read my post earlier you will realise that i have included situations that lalu benefited from which were not entirely his making. nevertheless what he has produced is not to be chaffed at. the advantages of a good economy has pervaded every sphere of indian life and lalu has converted it in the indian railways to good benefit. his spending on the railways as a whole and maintenance as a subsidiary has been vastly more than previous and only possible due to the success of the enterprise as a whole. look at the budgets pre and post lalu. if you dont believe he did a good job, i will agree to disagree.

[justforkix]

As for standing in queue or not, for tickets, Rail tickets were computerised in New Delhi 15 years ago. Sure Lalu can't take credit for it!! 

We are refering to passengers being able to buy tickets online. Surely, this was not available in Delhi in 1992, 15 years back  . But even this was available in 2002, so yes, in a way, you are right, Lalu cannot take credit for it. But the concept of e-tix for trains, simialr to flights came about after Lalu took over. But I don't know if this happened naturally or because of Lalu. Earlier it was i-tix, where you had to buy tix at least 48 hrs in advance and it will be delivered to your home. Now, you can buy tix upto 6 hrs before departure becuase of e-tix.

[feverpitch]

As for standing in queue or not, for tickets, Rail tickets were computerised in New Delhi 15 years ago. Sure Lalu can't take credit for it!! 

We are refering to passengers being able to buy tickets online. Surely, this was not available in Delhi in 1992, 15 years back  . But even this was available in 2002, so yes, in a way, you are right, Lalu cannot take credit for it. But the concept of e-tix for trains, simialr to flights came about after Lalu took over. But I don't know if this happened naturally or because of Lalu. Earlier it was i-tix, where you had to buy tix at least 48 hrs in advance and it will be delivered to your home. Now, you can buy tix upto 6 hrs before departure becuase of e-tix.

you can actually buy tickets from the current reservation counter till 15 mins bfr departure of a train now... this is a facility that has come over the last one year... also, major repairs relaying etc is taking place in the vijaywada and other sections, where passengers can get off at the nearest station and then take a free bus to their destination, if that stn is blocked due to repairs... this I used not long ago...

tickets can be bought from sify cafes using railway credit cards that remain with the sify cafe owner... or from many petrol pumps in major cities...

if lalu can bring down the chaos caused and disrespect shown by passengers from patna to others travelling to delhi... incl rampant ticketless travel... i think railways will have done a remarkable turnaround...

[justforkix]

you can actually buy tickets from the current reservation counter till 15 mins bfr departure of a train now... this is a facility that has come over the last one year... also, major repairs relaying etc is taking place in the vijaywada and other sections, where passengers can get off at the nearest station and then take a free bus to their destination, if that stn is blocked due to repairs... this I used not long ago...

Wow. that is nice.

tickets can be bought from sify cafes using railway credit cards that remain with the sify cafe owner... or from many petrol pumps in major cities...

yes. bottomline. train travel is more confortable to passengers than ever before. This is a significant achievement. Of course safety and maintenance aspects should not be compromised.

[achutank]

This may be the best thing that can happen to Indian Cricket if Laloo can do to BCCI what he did to the Railways.

Sir, don't for a second think that Railways is running all healthy and hunky-dory. Various audits have thrown a startling reason for Railways showing profits. Under Lalu, Railways have not invested at all in line maintenance and safety & preventive tools. All these expenses have been kept to less than bare minimum. That's why, with drastically lower expenses, Railways is showing profits.

If you want BCCI to be run like that, Ram save the team then... 

I'm talking just in terms of profits and final numbers, but the general visible improvement in the standards of railways, trains, and services. I'm also not saying that Railways has no probs at all. It is still bad, but much better than what it was before. Lalu is not a saint and Railways is not devoid of problems. But some good is better than no good. I do not mind giving Laloo the BCCI Cheif post. Hey, it cannot get any worse than what BCCI is now, right

ok do one thing just take the DI local to CST at even 11.30 pm and forget 2nd class try getting into 1st class then we will talk about improved standards, beep that try taking a 3 tier ac journey from mumbai to madras without food packed in your suitcase then we will talk about it being better than before,

oh wait try it in the monsoons too while you are it

jfk rehne de yeh laloo utna hi beep hai jitne bakhi sab the

[colonel]

If Laloo becomes BCCI president....

1. Indian cricket will be rocked by a financial scandal where the 900 crores earmarked for Romesh Pawar's annual lunch money will disappear. Among claims of innocence from Laloo, Pawar will be actually seen to lose weight.

2. Sharad Yadav and Rambilas Paswan will be banned from every cricket ground in India. In addition, Rambilas Paswan will have his cable connection cut off by government order.

3. The much criticised zonal selection system may be replaced by a caste-based selection system which will do away with the Brahmin hegemony over Indian cricket. That is, Saurav Ganguly will now be 'rested' permanently, this time for being a Brahmin.

4. The 'backward' castes will make their triumphant entry into Indian cricket - Tejashwi Yadav will make his debut in the Indian test team.

5. To place this incident in it's proper context, the BCCI will officially deny the existence of Eknath Solkar. Thus, Tejashwi Yadav will be the 'first' cricketer from a backward caste to play for India.

6. Laloo will refer to the Indian cricket team as his children.....in a government ad on family planning.

7. His first relection promise will be to make 'every cricket pitch in India as flat as John Abraham's abs'.

8. His second relection promise would be to increase revenue from ticket sales. For this, 'every gallery would be built as high as Sridevi's..er, IQ'.

9. Prem Panikker will blaim Saurav Ganguly for the debacle that will be Laloo's BCCI presidency.

10. Kapil will take a different view and proclaim Laloo's presidency a triumph, adding this is what happens when we trust indigenous talent rather than foreign mercenaries.

11. In 2 years, Nitish Kumar will be BCCI president.

Your take gentlemen? Pros and cons.

[poondu]

Colonel, LOL, Good post.

[caught and bowled]

Brilliant, work Colonel. Hats off...

[colonel]

Thank you brothers. Please add to the list.

[VMenon]

The Indian Railways will be made the "official carrier" for Team India

[caught and bowled]

The Indian Railways will be made the "official carrier" for Team India

Heck, you are making the already good work by Colonel even better..

[RicePlateReddy]

Thank you brothers. Please add to the list.

1. India will win the World Cup under Lalu and he will take credit for it.

2. Rabri Devi will be feeding Ranatunga's goat's offspring (by then numbering in the hundreds) in the pavilion during key matches. Their "dropping" will upset the players but she will not care. Their droppings would be discussed on this DG with keen fervor.
On a side note, Feverpitch and CP will get into a furious clash because CP will refer to Rabri's suckling wards as "bakris" and FP will mistake it for "bukhari".

3. All drinks will be served during games in matkas. "Yeh coke-shoke pespi-gypsy sab khatham!". Only lassi, stirred with Rabri Devi's middle finger will be available. Rabri will watch videos of Chappell to learn how to use the middle finger to stir a vortex (in the lassi).

4. McKinsey will release a study that shows that forcing the foreign teams to drink lassi during drinks is what caused India to win. Dhoni was the only one who will metabolize lassi at impressive rates and become a superman. Dhoni would be captain, opening bowler, wicket keeper when not bowling and chase every ball in the outfield. Then he will bat and score 20 runs per over using "agricultural" shots fine tuned by Lalu himself.

5. As a result, KKIRAN61 will become the Niranjan Shah of the Lalu regime.

6. Australian coaches will be flying in to meet Lalu to figure out how he created a winning organization.

7. Even though ODI cricket sports colors, Lalu will wear sparkling white, citing traditions of the game. He will tell a reporter "Yeh color-valor nahee chahiyye humko. Main seedha (Ruchirjee!) saadha aadmi hoon. Sirph black aur white pehantha hoon!" However, a cheeky reporter will point out that he wears starched pyjamas rather than pants, and hence relented to the influence of pyjama cricket.

8. The Indian team symbol will be a hoe (the farmer type now, come on).

9. finey will complain that Lalu won the World Cup by neglecting the long term health of the fast bowlers and using them too much and burning them out. finey would have more posts on this DG than paise that Lalu has looted.

10. KOP will joke that the useless fast bowlers would have died of cholestrol problems in any case.

11. dex will be censoring any derogatory reference to Lalu or the BCCI on this DG which by then would be earning $49.99 from Google Ad Words. The key words that led to the hits to the DG would be "gai" (Lalu), "gobar" (due to posts by certain members) and "dhudhu" (yes, Ruchir will still be active).

12. Zimbabwe's Mark Vermeulen will be personally appointed by Lalu as team coach, shocking everyone but the wise men on this DG. http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2006/11/04/0411vermeulen-bailed-out.html

13. This DG will be split across predictable lines into two groups: Lallus that support the BCCI president and Ullus who are everyone that disagree with me.

14. "God" will release his annual summary of Lalu's contribution:

[colonel]

excellent KOP - a virtual virual applause for you.

[dextrous]

great thread!!!

if lalu did become BCCI president and dhoni became the indian captain...you can be assured this DG will go places. humra bihari bhai log ek dusre ko saath le ke hi upar jat hain babua. ab kitne din i sub chal sakat ho, u to hum nahi janat.

[achutank]

obviuosly the DG will have a new slogan

jab tak dexy sexy rahega, bcci president lalu rahega

[Blwe_torch]

Lalu's best introduction is the 'print your own ticket'....erstwhile available with the airlines...saves a lot of hassles.
And also....the auto-upgrade in class of travel. These are the 2 obvious ones for us laymen.
He is corrupt no doubt.......but will still do a lot better than the current BCCI crop.

[natty]

Lalu's grasp of technical details is amazing, what to say of his english..

------
Hon’ble Members have continuously been requesting to increase the speed and reduce the travel time of popular passenger trains. Sir, the All-India railway timetable was first published in the year 1866 by the "Bradshaw company". The benefits of modern rolling stock, signaling and track structure, however, have yet not been fully reflected in the existing timetable to increase the speed of passenger trains. Hence, I had decided to re-work this all-India timetable de-novo, that is, with Zero base in the current year. This work is proceeding on high priority and for this, computerized simulation techniques, as necessary, will be employed. As a result of the review conducted so far, it has been decided to convert more than 200 mail/express trains to superfast mail/express category by increasing their speeds. With the preparation of a new time table on zero base, the journey time of a majority of the Shatabdis, Rajdhanis will reduce and certain Mail/Express trains is likely to decrease by up to four hours.
------

from

http://exim.indiamart.com/budget-2006-07/rail-budget2006-07/speech-railway-budget-06-07-part-1.html

the railways have always had talented staff (E Sreedharan comes to Mind, even my dad made lots of tech improvements during his career).. I assume that the recent top brass have been very competent and somehow Lalu helped them along.

[Cover Point]

obviuosly the DG will have a new slogan

jab tak dexy sexy rahega, bcci president lalu rahega

Achu, Please post and confirm that you are not banned for referring to Dexy as Sexy!