SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 4: The checkmate game between President Pradip Verma and Secretary International Master (IM) Neeraj Mishra has pushed Jharkhand chess to nadir.
In the last two years, the activities of the game have been restricted to three districts out of 24 in the state. Chess lovers hold the president–secretary rift responsible while office bearers of the Jharkhand State Chess Association (JSCA) blame the Covid lockdown.
President Pradip Verma and Secretary Neeraj Mishra have not met in the last 24 months. Sources said that Neeraj had gone to meet Pradip Verma at his Ranchi residence. But the president neither met nor called him back.
After that, there was a chance of them meeting on March 28 at Chaibasa Shyama Prasad Mookerji prize money chess tournament. President Verma reached there from Ranchi but Secretary Mishra, despite living in Jamshedpur, did not go.
A chess lover said that following the rift, Pradip Verma does not give expected time to the association while Neeraj Mishra has shifted his activities to Patna and Bengaluru. He has also dismantled his academy at Ranchi. The two-term tenure of both the officials ends in May.
“Their rift is a loss to the state chess. IM Neeraj Mishra is the symbol of Jharkhand in national chess after Pravin Thipsay and has a vision for development. But politics never allowed him to work,” said a chess pandit.
The rift reportedly started between them in the 2019 state election. Verma was elected as the president unanimously but it is alleged that he put up his candidates, national arbiter Dipak Kumar of Ranchi and Manish Kumar of Garhwa, against Neeraj Mishra. Manish Kumar later withdrew from the race.
One year later, both again were divided over the voting in the national chess body election. Mishra was supporting the Bharat Singh group while Verma supported the rival group.
This resulted in Pradip removing the name of Neeraj from the two-member delegation list to represent Jharkhand. Vice-president Dhananjay Singh of Ramgarh was included in the list in place of Mishra.
The Secretary took it seriously and started his move to checkmating the president.
A former office-bearer of the state association said present chief executive officer (CEO) and former secretary Pritam Singh created the rift between Verma and Mishra for personal gain.
Pritam Singh did not receive the call despite repeated attempts on March 10 and April 1. He is also the coach of Verma’s school in Ranchi.
Pritam Singh became the secretary in the 2012 state election. The names of BT Rao and international arbiter Jayant Bhuyan of Jamshedpur were in the race but it is said the then secretary Neeraj supported Singh.
Due to internal politics, arbiter Jayant Bhuyan was sent into oblivion. After two years, he has been given the chance to officiate in state chess, which starts at Jamshedpur on Friday.
It is also alleged that Neeraj Mishra brought Pradip Verma into the state chess to cut the then-president NK Singh to size.
After the retirement of the founder president CV Kamath (senior officer of Tata Steel), NK Singh of Jamshedpur became president in 2009. He was the senior and unanimous choice.
Mishra killed two birds with a single stone. He brought Pradip Verma, a senior BJP leader as the president in 2013 in the name of getting financial support in place of NK Singh.
After the arrival of Pradip Verma, Jharkhand chess became a financially strong body in the country. He not only ensured sponsors for tournaments but also increased activities in all 24 districts by helping with cash.
The association also associated Richa Sanchita, wife of Sunil Barnwal (IAS) as the executive president. She lined up several sponsors for the state chess. Her daughter was also a promising player in the state. But she shifted to Delhi alongwith her husband. The association faced a major financial jolt after her departure.
Before being ousted, NK Singh’s supporters forced Neeraj Mishra’s ouster from Jamshedpur’s chess body. Neeraj who became secretary after the death of AK Bose in 2005, had to shift to Dhanbad to survive in the state body and his close associate Pritam Singh shifted to Hazaribagh.
Former Dhanbad chess association secretary Arvind Sinha, who had been treasurer of the state body for several years, had also to pay the price for supporting Neeraj Mishra in his place, Manish Kumar of Garhwa was made the treasurer.
Chess activities in Dhanbad, which was the centre game after Jamshedpur and Ranchi, have also almost finished. Notably, Neeraj Mishra is the general secretary of the Dhanbad chess body.
Pradip Verma (left) and Neeraj Mishra (right)
