It is difficult to let go of power, but one should know when to give up in the interests of an organisation.
Thus speaks Rajnikant Patel, in his first media interaction since he stepped down as the managing director and CEO of the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd on Thursday night in what is seen as a boardroom battle over some key decisions taken during his watch.
Patel, here for a mutual fund summit, ducked a direct answer on why he had stepped down abruptly. ?For a management to be successful, (a) very important part is you should know when to give up,? he said, sounding and looking relaxed.
?It is generally very difficult to let go off power. If you are looking at the welfare of the organisation you should know my role stops here and somebody else?s starts?who is the deserving one,? he said. Patel said his term at the helm of the 130-year-old bourse had been ?one of the most challenging and satisfying tasks? in his life. ?The kind of initiatives which I have been able to take, was all geared to see that BSE becomes a meaningful competition in the capital market,? he said.
Patel had joined the BSE in March 2001 as director of surveillance and has been MD for the past four years.
He said his biggest challenge had been corporatisation and demutualisation ?where various conflicting interests had to be converged into a seamless and cohesive object.?
As for the scheduled IPO, Patel said the delay was owing to technical and legal issues on the one hand and the absence of regulatory timeline pressures.
?Whom do I sign listing agreement with? BSE can not sign with itself. That is why we have studied the models worldwide,? he said, citing the US model where there is a separate company that follows and monitors the self-listed exchanges. Patel, without naming any body but in an obvious reference to broker interests not keen to give up their power, said: ?To change from not for profit to for profit needs a huge mindset change and being business oriented?Requires being professional and look at opportunities and grab it.?