BCCI rule barring public servants: MP-elect Rajeev Shukla says 'there's time'

Rajeev Shukla, elected to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh, says he has time to think about resigning from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). As the vice-president of the BCCI, Shukla's role will now come under the BCCI constitution rule which bars an office-bearer from holding a public office.

When asked if he has been obligated to leave the BCCI, Shukla said he is now only an MP-elect and his term has not yet started. "My term will start only next month. The elections are held early and the swearing-in takes place next month," Shukla told Cricket on Saturday (June 4). "There is some time left."

The BCCI constitution states, "OFFICE BEARER means the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Treasurer and Page 29 elaborates on that stating: "A person shall be disqualified from being an Office-Bearer, a member of the Governing Council or any committee or any similar organisation if he or she... is a Minister or Government Servant or holds a public office..."
The Rule 7.2 defines the role of the vice-president as: "The Vice-President shall officiate in the President's absence, when the President is unavailable; The Vice-President shall exercise such functions and duties as he may be empowered with by the General Body or the Apex Council."

Shukla (62) was elected unopposed as the vice-president at the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) in December 2020 after Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand resigned.

Shukla has been a veteran BCCI administrator, having held many a position, including being the IPL chairman. He was elected unopposed on the Congress party ticket to the Upper House on Friday (June 3) in the biennial elections of the Rajya Sabha. He will have a term of six years in the Upper House.