IOA President PT Usha loses Sportsperson of Merit election as Saina, Anju qualify

 Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha on Monday failed to get elected, but former shuttler Saina Nehwal made the cut as one of the four female Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs) in a field of six candidates following a controversial election.

Legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, former archer Dola Banerjee and former Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal were also elected as SOMs. 

Eighty SOMs -- 40 men and 40 women -- form the electoral roll for the election of the four female representatives. All the 80 SOMs cast their votes, according to the election result issued by Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivasatava.

Anju got 53 votes, the highest among the six candidates, while Rani received 50. Dola and Saina got 45 and 43 votes respectively in the virtual polls held between 9am and 5pm on Monday.

Usha was fifth with 40 votes while former basketball player Anitha Paul Durai got six votes.

On Saturday, Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Vijender Singh and Yogeshwar Dutt as well as former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta were elected unopposed as four male SOMs after eight other candidates withdrew their nomination.

The 43-year-old Gagan, who won a 10m air rifle bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics, is considered one of the strong contenders for the top job of the IOA.

Usha can stand for the IOA Executive Council polls to be held on December 5 only if she is nominated to the General Assembly by a National Sports Federation (NSF), which is unlikely.

The track and field legend is not expected to be one of the two representatives from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

Under the IOA Constitution, the candidate for the President will have to be an SOM or a member of the General Assembly.

In 2022, Usha was elected unopposed as IOA's first woman president via the SOM route.

The eight elected SOMs will become members of the IOA General Assembly, making them eligible to vote as well as stand in the December 5 polls of the new Executive Council.

Two SOMs -- one man and one woman -- will also become members of the IOA Executive Council.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)