E-mail leakage deliberate, says Sharad Pawar

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who was nominated by the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association for the presidency of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, finally broke his silence in an informal chat with rediff.com in New Delhi on Tuesday.

He said the manner in which India coach Greg Chappell's e-mail was leaked to a newspaper in Kolkata, it seemed it was done with the pre-conceived motive of diverting attention from the BCCI's elections.

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"I do not know have full knowledge about the developments regarding leakage of the e-mail, but it seems that it was done deliberately to divert attention from the annual general meeting," Pawar said, as he walked down the corridor of Shastri Bhavan.

Why is there so much chaos in the Board?

"I think there is lot of scope for improvement in the administrative side of the Board," he said, talking about the ongoing spat between India captain Sourav Ganguly and team coach Greg Chappell.

Would you still be in the running for the post of president when the AGM is reconvened?

"When did I announce my candidature? Let the meeting be convened and then we would decide on these matters," he said with a smile.

Is it true that you had 23 members on your side before the meeting was called off?

"I have nothing to say on this issue. Those who were there know the facts and why the meeting was called off," he added.

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