Dubai: The tussle to become the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) began within minutes of the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya, who had held the post as the compromise candidate of the BCCI’s various power-mongering groups.

Who will win the battle, which is expected to be one of the fiercest ever, will become known in the coming days.

The battle will be no less intense to wrest the president’s chair in Dalmiya’s backyard — the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) — as Dalmiya had virtually an uninterrupted reign for 22 years. The then City police commissioner, Prasun Mukherjee, held the post for just one year in between.

Until Dalmiya’s death on Sunday, former BCCI president N. Srinivasan, who is the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), was on the verge of losing world cricket’s top position as BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur was scheming his way to the top of the Indian cricket body by using Dalmiya’s inability to exert his powers due to his sinking health.

Thakur had won the support of many former Srinivasan backers, but Dalmiya’s death is a huge blow to his plans, unless he can manage to gain support for a candidate who will back him after becoming president.

Speaking to Gulf News, T.C. Mathew, one of the vice-presidents of the BCCI, said that Arun Jaitley — who is finance minister in the government of India and was formerly BCCI vice-president — should step in and sort the issue. Mathew feels Jaitley is respected by all groups and hence can find a solution.

Meanwhile, Rajeev Shukla, the Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner, has emerged as a compromise candidate of various groups and he may take over as interim president.

The decision to appoint Dalmiya’s successor will be taken at a Special General Meeting (SGM) to be called by Thakur. As per the BCCI’s constitution, Thakur needs to issue a notification to board members by October 5. The SGM should then be held within three weeks of that notice.

Whether Shukla will get the post or not depends on former BCCI president Sharad Pawar’s group of supporters in the BCCI. Pawar is also eyeing the president’s post.

Though Shukla is a member of the Congress party, he is on good terms with BJP backer Thakur. But it is the East Zone who will nominate the president as Dalmiya’s term wasn’t completed, so Shukla is trying hard to win them over. However, the East Zone is reportedly set to turn to joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary of Jharkhand as their candidate.

Biswarup Dey, the CAB treasurer and Dalmiya confidante, told Gulf News by phone from Kolkata: “As per our [CAB] constitution we have to convene a special general meeting of the working committee within 60 days to elect the next president. Unlike the BCCI, we have no provision for an interim president.”

When asked whether Dalmiya’s death will affect preparations for the India versus South Africa One Day International at Eden Gardens on October 8, Dey said: “Dalmiya had prepared the blueprint for the same and we now have to only organise it.”

While the CAB officials contacted by Gulf News remained tight-lipped, the buzz is that Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain who is joint secretary of the CAB, appears to be a strong consensus candidate to fill Dalmiya’s shoes. The candidature of Chitrak Mitra, a former joint secretary and BCCI vice-president, is also doing the rounds.