Batra, Khanna in fray for IOA Prez post, Mehta to be Secy-Gen
New Delhi, Dec 3- There will be a straight two-way fight between International Hockey Federation president Narinder Batra and top tennis official Anil Khanna for the post of Indian Olympic Association president in the December 14 polls. Indian Weightlifting Federation President Birendra Baishya pulled out of the race, leaving Batra and Khanna, a former All India Tennis Association chief, in the fray for the top job. Baishya will now contest for one of the posts of eight vice-presidents, for which he had also filed his nomination papers. After the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations ended on Sunday, the Returning Officer S K Mendiratta notified the final list of candidates for the elections to be held during the IOA's elective Annual General Body Meeting here. Except for the post of the secretary general, all the others will have elections with the IOA Electoral College set to vote through secret ballot. Incumbent secretary general Rajeev Mehta will be re-elected for his second four-year term as he was the lone candidate to have filed the nomination papers. Jharkhand Olympic Association chief R K Anand will have a straight fight against former Kabaddi Federation of India president Janardhan Singh Ghelot for the lone post of senior vice-president after incumbent Virendra Nanavati withdrew his candidature. Virendra Nanavati will now contest for one of the posts of eight vice-presidents, for which he had also filed his nomination papers. There will be a three-cornered contest for the post of treasurer as none among Anandeshwar Pandey, Mukesh Kumar and Rakesh Gupta withdrew their candidature. For the eight posts of vice-presidents, 12 remained in the fray, including the likes of Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla, Luge Federation of India chief Karan Chautala and former BJP National Council member Sudhanshu Mittal. BJP's senior minister in Assam government, Himanta Biswa Sarma and veteran sports administrator Tarlochan Singh withdrew their candidature for the vice-president's post. Meanwhile nine candidates are left in the fray for the six posts of joint secretaries while 15 will contest for the 10 other members of the Executive Council to be elected at the IOA Headquarters here on December 14. Earlier on Sunday, Mendiratta, also a legal advisor to the Election Commission of India, reviewed his decision to reject the nominations of Devendranath Sarangi (for vice- president) and K Rajendiran (for Executive Council member) and re-instated them as candidates. "The nomination papers of Devendranath Sarangi (for vice-president) and K Rajendiran (for Executive Council member) were rejected at the time of scrutiny of nominations on 30/11/2017 as the same were not accompanied with the requisite undertaking/declaration. "However, on inquiry from the office of the IOA it was revealed that the intending candidates were not intimated about this requirement," Mendiratta said. The polls on December 14 will see observers from the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Council from Asia and the Sports Ministry in attendance. The total member of the electoral college members is 184, including two IOA Athletes Commission members -- P T Usha and Rajeev Tomar. Out of these, 116 are from the National Sports Federations and remaining from the state Olympic associations. Each NSF has maximum of three voters while each state Olympic unit has two voters. PTI
