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BSE polls may see new twists

Sangita Shah

The elections of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to fill the three vacancies on the governing board of the bourse could chart a decisive path for the 125-year-old exchange. Six candidates have filed nominations for the elections to be held on March 28, 2001.

However, there could be more vacancies if the elected broker-directors -- at present restrained by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) -- are asked to vacate their posts at the regulator's meeting on March 21 and 22. This may result in the exchange seeking fresh elections.

The candidates who have filed nominations for the present three vacancies include Ashok Kumar Damani, Sunil M. Shah (designated director, Evergreen Broking), Alok C Churiwala (designated director, Churiwala Securities), Apurva Shah (designated director, K Jayantilal Securities), Rajendraprasad K Jhunjhunwala (designated director, Jhunjhunwala Stock Brokers) and proprietor-broker Kirtikumar Fulchand Vora.

The nomination papers are being scrutinised and a final list will be announced after March 19.

The elections will be held to fill in the seats vacated by Bhagirath Merchant, who resigned in August 2000 and the two outgoing directors --Jasvantlal C Parekh, the former president and Kirit Shah. The governing board has 19 members, of which nine are public nominees, one executive director and the rest are elected members.

Of the elected members, the vote of one member -- that is the outgoing president's vote -- becomes crucial for the coveted seat as the remaining members get bifurcated into two equal-strength lobbies.

Apprehensions hound the members whether the new incoming president will also meet the fate its two predecessors Anand Rathi and J C Parekh have met. The present acting president Deena Mehta seems to be in the forefront but market expectations are that a dark horse may emerge on the day of election for the chair.

The market is expecting, this time around also, the age-old battle to intensify to gain supremacy over the country's most important stock exchange between the Marwari and the Gujarati lobby. The vote of the recently stepped down president Anand Rathi is expected to be the most crucial for the contenders for presidentship.

Market is keenly watching whether Deena Mehta will be given the full support verbally extended to her in the last elections. It is worth mentioning that in most cases Marwaris and Gujaratis have taken turns for the presidentship.

It may be recalled that Rathi's predecessor, Jasvantlal C Parekh, was asked to quit office just a few days prior to the board elections. In both cases, the fall from grace came days before their terms were meant to end.

Interestingly the elections of 1999-2000 had created another history of sorts. The elected members could not arrive at a consensus on who would be the next president and the five-member trustee board of the BSE was sent a SOS. The meeting went on for six long hours, which sources claim was never witnessed before.

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