NEW DELHI: N Ramachandran, Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna will be elected unopposed as president, secretary general and treasurer respectively of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the Feb 9 elections. The elections may finally pave the way for IOA's return to the Olympic fold since it was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2012 over its election process.
All the candidates for the post of IOA office-bearers will be unanimously chosen as both the Abhay Chautala and the Randhir Singh group finally worked out a consensual list of candidates as the deadline for filing nominations ended. Randhir, who is the secretary general of the recognised IOA and also an IOC member, wanted candidates from the 2008 association eligible to contest but the Chautala faction feels that those in the 2012 body must get a chance. But Chautala, who is the president of the suspended IOA, had his way as most of his loyalists found a place in the newly formed body. Chautala was given the mandate by the members to nominate candidates for the election.
The only candidate close to Randhir in the new body would be his daughter Sunaina Kumari, who will be one of the six joint secretaries. Sunaina heads the bowling federation. Ramachandran, who is a former president of the squash federation and the brother of BCCI supremo N. Srinivasan, is now the president of the World Squash Federation (WSF). Ramachandran was elected treasurer in 2012 before IOA was supended by the IOC. Mehta is an associate vice-president with Hockey India (HI) and also heads the kho-kho body while Khanna is the president of the All India Tennis Association ( AITA). Khanna in the past has also been the treasurer of the IOA.
The only candidate close to Randhir in the new body would be his daughter Sunaina Kumari, who will be one of the six joint secretaries. Sunaina heads the bowling federation. Ramachandran, who is a former president of the squash federation and the brother of BCCI supremo N. Srinivasan, is now the president of the World Squash Federation (WSF). Ramachandran was elected treasurer in 2012 before IOA was supended by the IOC. Mehta is an associate vice-president with Hockey India (HI) and also heads the kho-kho body while Khanna is the president of the All India Tennis Association ( AITA). Khanna in the past has also been the treasurer of the IOA.
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