"I will contest CAB election for post of president, " Subhas

Kolkata, Jan 16 (UNI) Setting at rest all speculations, West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakravarty today said he would contest the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) election for the post of president.

Talking to UNI over phone, Mr Chakravarty said, ''I have talked to the people which I have thought was necessary.'' ''I would do all that is needed to fight the election,'' he added.

It had been learnt that Mr Chakravarty had talked to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, his political mentor Jyoti Basu and Left Front Chairman Biman Bose in this regard.

With Mr Chakraborty's announcement, the CAB election has taken a curious turn as another contestant city Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee is a candidate of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Sports circles believe that the maverick Sports Minister, not known for having best of relations with the Chief Minister and having had aroused many a controversy within the government and his party CPI(M), is being backed by the Dalmiya camp, fighting a proxy war with the opposition camp.

The election will be held to fill the vacant post after former president Jagmohan Dalmiya resigned in accordance with the rule of BCCI following his expulsion from the country's apex cricket body.

Mr Prasun Mukherjee, who was defeated by only five votes by Mr Dalmiya in the last CAB election held on July 29, 2006, had already announced his candidature for the second time.

The Annual General Meeting of CAB has been fixed on February 1.

UNI