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IOA Elections: PT Usha nominated by Ice Hockey Association; re-election hopes alive
IOA President PT Usha kept hopes of her re-election bid alive as she was nominated by Ice Hockey Association of India as one of its two representatives to the General Body.
Indian legendary sprinter PT Usha (Source: DNA)
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha kept hopes of her re-election bid alive as she was nominated by Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) on Thursday as one of its two representatives to the General Body, just days after she lost the Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs) polls.
Usha was nominated as the female representative of the ice hockey's national federation with secretary general Harjinder Singh being the male member.
Each of the 30 National Sports Federations (NSFs) entitled to vote in the IOA elections has been asked by Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava to nominate one male and one female representative to the General Body before the Thursday 3pm deadline.
There is a clause in the notification issued on Monday by the EO that the nominated member should be a member of the NSF concerned. It is not clear whether Usha -- a track and field legend -- would fulfil that requirement.
"Each representative shall be a member of the concerned NSF Member, a citizen of India, less than 70 years of age, a person of good standing, sound judgment and independent mind with knowledge of and belief in Olympic principles," one of the requirements said.
Article 10.4 of the IOA Constitution ratified in September this year also says: "The voting federation will forward to the IOA the names of their representative(s) (one male and one female) entitled to attend and vote at the elective general meeting of the IOA ... The representatives nominated by each unit must be members of such units."
Submission of the objections to the provisional electoral college will be done on Friday. Scrutiny, verification and disposal of the objections will be done on Saturday before the final electoral roll is published on Sunday.
One senior official said that a member of an NSF could be someone who has represented a state unit or a department in any meeting/event of that federation, like attending a General Body meeting. Another way of becoming member is when he or she is a part of any committee of that NSF.
Incidentally, ice hockey has been marred by controversies in the recent past with multiple factions having claimed as the official national federation. The IOA recognises Ice Hockey Association of India led by president Gurpreet Singh Bakshi with Harjinder as secretary general.
The Sports Ministry, however, does not recognise any ice hockey national body.
The 60 members from the NSFs, eight SOMs already elected, two representatives from the Athletes' Commission -- Mirabai Chanu and Sajan Prakash -- and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member in India -- Nita Ambani -- will form the 71-strong electoral college for the IOA Executive Council polls to be held on December 5.
The SOMs and all the 60 members nominated by the NSFs can also stand as candidates for the new Executive Council.
Prominent among those who were nominated as representatives by the NSFs include Adille Sumariwalla (athletics), Rajeev Mehta (fencing), Rahul Bose (rugby), Virender Sachdeva (archery), Kalyan Chaubey (football), Sahdev Yadav (weightlifting), Ajay Patel (shooting), Sanjay Singh (wrestling), Bhupinder Singh Bajwa (wushu) and Bhola Nath Singh (hockey).
There were also at least seven members of the outgoing Executive Council among those nominated by their respective NSFs to the IOA General Body.
Sumariwalla is also talked about as one of the contenders for the top job of the IOA, along with SOMs Gagan Narang and Saina Nehwal, among others.
List of nominations as NSF representatives:
1. All India Football Federation: Kalyan Chaubey, Tsering Angmo
2. All India Tennis Association: Chintan Parikh, Rushmi Chakravarthi
3. Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India: Deepak Joshi, Jayashree Swain
4. Archery Association of India: Virendra Kumar Sachdeva, Purnima Mahato
5. Athletics Federation of India: Adille Sumariwalla, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar
6. Badminton Association of India: Sanjay Mishra, Alaknanda Ashok
7. Basketball Federation of India: Aadhav Arjuna, Meenalatha Mohan
8. Bowling Federation of India: Ravi Bengani, Sunaina Kumari
9. Cycling Federation of India: Maninder Pal Singh, Shipra Verma
10. Fencing Association of India: Rajeev Mehta, Surekha
11. Gymnastic Federation of India: Kiran Wattal, Satpal Kaur
12. Handball Federation of India: Udit Harish Sheth, Tarjeet Kaur Saluja
13. Hockey India: Bhola Nath Singh, Joydeep Kaur
14. Ice Hockey Association of India: Harjinder Singh, PT Usha
15. Ice Skating Association of India: Amitabh Sharma, Monica Thakur
16. Indian Kayaking & Canoeing: Prashant Kushwaha, Alisha Keer
17. Indian Rugby Football Union: Rahul Bose, Sanaya Mehta Vyas
18. Indian Triathlon Federation: Nitin Gupta, Brinda Aiyar
19. Indian Weightlifting Federation: Sahdev Yadav, Sabina Yadav
20. Judo Federation of India: Mukesh Kumar, Gitanjali Panda
21. Luge Federation of India: Dev Kumar Singh Jyoti Mann
22. Modern Pentathlon Federation of India: Vitthal Shirgaonkar, Sandhya Paliekar
23. National Rifle Association of India: Ajay Patel, Putul Kumari
24. Netball Federation of India: Vagish Pathak, Suman Kaushik
25. Rowing Federation of India: Balaji Maradapa, Smita Yadav
26. Ski and Snowboard India: Harpal Singh, Banyala Harini
27. Swimming Federation of India: RN Jayaprakash, Mona Manish Shah
28. Squash Rackets Federation of India: Cyrus Poncha, Pavitra Nandiga
29. Wrestling Federation of India: Sanjay Kumar Singh, Nikki
30. Wushu Association of India: Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Bhavneet Handoo