Spider legend Bishan Singh Bedi has threatened to take legal action against the DDCA if his name is not immediately removed with a spectator at the Feroz Shah Kotla site.
On Wednesday, Bedi shot a letter to the Delhi and District Cricket Association and shot it with a lamb because he had installed a statue of his late former president Arun Jaitley in the Kotla.
In the absence of a response from DDCA, Bedi wrote another letter to the cricket body on Saturday.
‘It’s been a few days since I wrote to you … While within minutes of my letter becoming known, I have overwhelmingly supported the cricket fraternity around the world. But I’m sad that there was no response from you, ‘Bedi wrote in his letter to Rohan Jaitley, president of the DDCA.
‘… I hope that people in our country still have the right to decide as individuals what they want to be associated with and where their nameplates can hang dignified. Please do not pressure me to make a legal appeal. ‘
Bedi also decided to resign from his membership of the DDCA.
In his scathing letter, Bedi questions the DDCA president’s “untouched” and “unexplained” silence.
“Your seemingly bad silence towards my letter, which led to a public debate on the continued existence of politicians on sports venues, exposes your naivety,” he wrote.
“Your inexplicable silence also underlines the guilt that you only take a position of power because of your family name, which of course you want to promote.
“Ultimately, I hope you will have the basic courtesy to respond to a former cricketer who does not ask for a favor but wants his cricket integrity not ruled out.”
The statue of Jaitley will be unveiled on Monday by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly in Kotla in the presence of, among others, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah and former BCCI chief Anurag Thakur.
Bedi said he did not want to associate the cricket stadium with a statue of the late politician, who was a minister in the BJP-led NDA government and passed away last year due to various health issues.
‘I have known for a long time that DDCA has a tradition of ignoring cricketers’ voice, hence this reminder. “There is a reason for my urgent request,” the 74-year-old said.
‘… Not a day or even a minute, I would feel better to be part of a cricket stadium with a statue of a person who I think shares the cricket values in the capital, to say the least, brought down.
“No, I do not want to stand by my name when the statue of the late Arun Jaitley is erected without any visible shame.”
Jaitley was DDCA president for 14 years, from 1999 to 2013, before ending his cricket administration. The body plans to have a six-foot statue installed at the Kotla to honor his memory.
DDCA designated one of the plots to Bedi in November 2017 along with another former Indian player Mohinder Amarnath.