Just 13 days into becoming the unopposed Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) general secretary, Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh surprised everyone in the cricket fraternity by tendering his resignation citing personal reasons.“Yes, I have resigned from the post. There’s nothing revealing to state, but only due to personal reasons. I love to cater to the masses, and will continue to do so,” Kulwant told The Tribune.Kulwant, who was perhaps the first sitting MLA in recent years to be elected to the post, was recently included in the PCA. While the list of Category-A Members didn’t find a mention of Kulwant, his candidature was pushed from the ‘representatives and institution category’, which made him eligible for the post. He filed his nomination on July 3 and was elected officially to the post on July 12. Showcasing their power, representatives of the state-ruled Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were elected unopposed to the top PCA posts.Kulwant is the richest of Punjab’s legislators with assets worth Rs 251 crore, according to his 2022 election affidavit. He had a stint with the SAD-BJP combine before winning the 2022 assembly elections on the AAP ticket.Kulwant’s sudden exit from the PCA body is the second such incident within a span of two months. Dilsher Khanna had resigned from his post as secretary on June 16, eight days before the PCA notified the election process for picking the new house. It was in May 2022 that the PCA house elected its new president, who was later stripped of the charge. In February 2023, the office-bearer was replaced and Amarjit Singh Mehta was appointed to the top post, while Khanna continued to be the secretary since 2022.“This is very surprising as no one expected this to happen. The members, even the office-bearers, were not aware about this development. He (Kulwant) is the shortest serving secretary of the PCA, as far as my memory goes,” said a senior member of the association.On July 12, the house elected Mehta as the PCA president for the second consecutive term, Deepak Bali as vice-president, Kulwant as honorary secretary, Siddhant Sharma as honorary joint secretary and Sunil Gupta as honorary treasurer.While Mehta, Bali and Kulwant have direct political association with the ruling AAP, Sharma is an advocate on record and standing counsel for Punjab in the Supreme Court of India. Gupta, who will be serving his second consecutive term, is deputy chairperson of the Punjab State Planning Board. Arminder Singh, Rajat Bhardwaj, Chanchal Kumar Singla, Amit Bajaj, Birdevinder Singh Natt, Prabhir Singh Brar, Gauravdeep Singh Dhaliwal, Kamal Kumar Arora, Amrinder Vir Singh Barsat, Sahebjit Singh Sehmby and Vikram Kumar were elected unanimously in the 11-member apex council.
Mohali MLA resigns as PCA secretary
