Indian cricket legend Bishan Singh Bedi has asked Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) to remove his name from that of a stand in the Arun Jaitley Stadium, formerly known as Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The former left-arm spinner has made this move to protest the decision of the body to erect a statue of Arun Jaitley, the late political leader and Minister of Finance and Defence in the Government of India, who also served as the President of DDCA.
Bedi had been a strident critic of Jaitley and had made accusations of mishandling the DDCA affairs even during the deceased politician's lifetime. Allegations of financial malpractices had also been levelled by several dissidents and activists.
Currently, Rohan Jaitley, son of the late leader, heads the body. Bedi has alleged that nepotism is at play and has even renounced his membership of the association.
The former India captain wrote a long letter to Rohan Jaitley, expressing his strong disagreement with the proposed move and reminded the current President of the tradition of building statues of cricketers at major stadium. Bedi said that since Arun Jaitley was a politician and, according to him, his tenure as DDCA President was mired with corruption, he is completely undeserving to have his statue in the stadium's premises.
The letter, which has been published in its entirety by several publications on their websites, pulls no punches in criticising the late DDCA head. He thanked the people who took the decision to name a stand in the stadium after him. But the former cricketer said that his 'patience' and 'tolerance' has run out with this proposed move.
Bedi was part of a group of former cricketers who had opposed Jaitley. The allegations of corruption became a major political issue and even came up in the Parliament. Arun Jaitley even made a statement on the floor of Lok Sabha defending himself and filed a defamation suit against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for making similar allegations.
The charges haven't been proven and Kejriwal had to issue a public apology for making the allegations. Former cricketers like Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, the latter now a Member of Parliament himself from BJP, had also defended Jaitley's handling of DDCA.
In his letter, Bedi also accused the former DDCA President of destroying the aesthetics of the stadium in the renovation that was carried out during Arun Jaitley's tenure. This story is likely to draw a strong response from both camps - pro and anti-Jaitley.
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