New Delhi: 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 women Sportspersons of Merit (SOM) 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 SOM.
Eighty SOM — 40 men and 40 women — form the electoral roll for the election of the four female representatives.
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.
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.
Controversy struck the IOA SOM election when Usha lodged a complaint with Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivasatava, alleging that former archer Dola Banerjee violated the Model Code of Conduct by circulating a WhatsApp message soliciting votes.
In her complaint, Usha objected to a WhatsApp message circulated through an account bearing Banerjee’s name, seeking support for the ‘New Bharat Panel’ and specifically asking voters to elect four named candidates, along with their ballot serial numbers and roll numbers.
Commonwealth Games gold-winning weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam lodged a complaint to EO Sanjay Kumar Srivasatava that “an organised effort is underway to influence members of the Electoral Roll in favour of a contesting candidate who is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association”.
“… and that the resources of the IOA are being used for this purpose,” Sivalingam wrote to Srivasatava without taking Usha’s name.
