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Defending the action of Electoral Officer (EO) N Ramesh Kumar in permitting the New Cricket Club, Guntur, officials to change their representative for the ‘Election’ AGM of the ACA, secretary Sana Sathish Babu lashed out at MSPV Ramana Murthy for spreading misinformation and maligning the cricket body.
“ACA is one of the few sports bodies in the country which follows all rules and norms. Even for this election, there is no deviation and the EO has strictly implemented the rules,” Sathish told CricBlogger on Tuesday. He was reacting to the story, “Throwing norms to the wind: Former ACA office-bearer Ramana Murthy alleges malpractice in elections” which appeared on this blog.
“Murthy is a fraud and trouble maker. He is no longer president of Guntur District CA as he was voted out. He has been charged with corruption and the ACA has filed cases against him. He will soon be arrested and will be behind bars for at least three months,” Sathish said.
“There were several complaints against Murthy from Guntur District CA and the ACA formed a three-member committee to look into the allegations. The panel in its report said they were true. Hence, Murthy was removed from Guntur District CA,” said president Kesineni Sivanath.
When questioned how the EO could change the final electoral roll after July 30, he feigned ignorance and said the secretary will answer it.
Sathish too was not able to give a convincing answer. He said the EO was a highly efficient officer and went by the rules. “I am not sure of the things that took place but I will find out from the EO,” he said.
Later, Ashwin Kumar, advocate and advisor to ACA, sent a clarification by WhatsApp. “The change in the representative status of the New Cricket Club was not arbitrary. It was formally requested by the President and Secretary of the said club through representations dated 31.07.2025 and 01.08.2025, clearly explaining the unfortunate circumstances and exigencies necessitating such change. The Electoral Officer, upon receiving this representation, acted upon in exercise of the powers vested in him under Rule 37 of the Bye-Laws of the Andhra Cricket Association and Rule 10 of the Code of Conduct issued for the conduct of elections, wherein the Electoral officer is fully empowered to make necessary modifications to the electoral roll in exceptional and unavoidable situations. Acting strictly within this legal framework, the Electoral Officer approved the change,” reads the note.
“It is pertinent to note that this change in no manner affects the rights, privileges, or status of any other full member of the Andhra Cricket Association. The allegations made in the article are therefore unfounded, mischievous, and appear to be driven by vested interests seeking to disrupt the orderly conduct of the elections and to damage the reputation of the Andhra Cricket Association,” the note added.
The questions, however, remain. Why did the New CC officials send their letter only after the final electoral roll was released? What kind of unfortunate circumstances and exigencies occurred to warrant a change after the given date? “The New CC officials submitted certain documents and medical reports which stated that B Sreenivasa Raju is not in a state to attend the AGM,” Ashwin said. When asked what kind of medical issue it was, he said,”such things cannot be made public.”
What is intriguing is that the same Sreenivasa Raju, who had given a letter for change of representative, turns up to file his nomination on August 3 despite his name no longer being there in the electoral roll. “Why did he file the nomination? Isn’t it fishy? What has been going on behind the doors? The reason given by the EO for rejecting his nomination is also not convincing? Something is being hidden by the officials,” said a former player.
Are the ACA officials using fig leaves to cover up the issue?
