SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 6: The internal bickering among the office-bearers in the All Jharkhand Chess Association (AJAC) seems to be taking its toll as the state body has failed to select its two nominees even in 30 days for attending the crucial annual general body meeting of the All India Chess Association (AICA). The national annual meeting is to be held at Mahabalipuram (Chennai), Tamil Nadu on June 11.
One month ago (reportedly May 11), the national body had sent a letter to the Jharkhand chess association to send its two names by May 22-23 for taking part in the annual meet so that air tickets could be issued in their names.
But the official sources in Jharkhand Chess Association on Sunday said that till date (June 5), the association has not finalized the names of its two nominees.
One of the joint secretaries of the All Jharkhand Chess Association said that since no meeting of the executive body has been held, the decision on selecting the nominees is pending.
Notably, no offline meeting has been held. Only two online meetings were held in three years.
As per the tradition, the president and general secretary of a state association participate in the national meet. It means president Pradip Verma and general secretary Neeraj Mishra are entitled to represent Jharkhand at Mahabalipuram.
But the tradition was broken last year when President Pradip Verma allegedly sidelined the name of general secretary Neeraj Mishra and sent a joint secretary in his place. Since the president and general secretary are not on good terms, selections of state nominees are in limbo.
A Jamshedpur-based founder of the state chess association said that in the tug of war between the president and general secretary, infrastructure development of Jharkhand chess has been almost choked. Since 2019 president is busy with his own personal schedule while the general secretary has concentrated on national and international assignments.
“Executive president Sanchita Barnbal could have broken the ice but she is out of Ranchi,” said the founder.
Both top brasses of the association have neither met each other for the last two years nor talked on the telephone to break the deadlock in the interest of the game.
“It is a matter of concern that while the chess players of the state are excelling on the national stage, the office-bearers of the state association have made state chess field of their ego politics,” said the founder.
Mahabalipuram AGM of All India Chess Association keeps significance for Jharkhand and other state units for two reasons. First is that Chess Olympiad is going to be held there from next month, and secondly, following the Delhi High Court ruling, national general secretary Bharat Singh Chouhan is set to resign and a new one would be elected.
Vice-president V Bhardwaj of Chandigarh is likely to be given charge of the general secretary.
Sources said since Neeraj Mishra is the chairman of the national body’s different sub-committee, he is all set to attend but Jharkhand would miss the opportunity.
