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Punjab minister Ashu set to head state badminton body
Ritin Khanna, former national-level badminton player and part of Jalandhar’s executive body, says sixteen district units have openly announced their support in favour of Ashu
Punjab cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu is all set to become the president of the Punjab Badminton Association (PBA). Confirming the development, the Punjab’s food and supply minister said, “I am contesting for the post of the PBA president.”
Most likely, it will be unanimous elections, as the incumbent president Ashok Gupta, a retired Punjab bureaucrat, has decided not to contest the polls and it has been learnt that some of the members of the group in power have met the Punjab minister in Ludhiana and offered their unconditional support to him. “I can only comment about myself that I am not contesting in the elections,” said Gupta.
On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the state sports department is holding the elections of the state badminton unit on December 13. The filing of the nomination is on Wednesday (December 9), while the withdrawal is December 10.
The sports department has formed a three-member committee, comprising deputy commissioners of Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar, to conduct the elections.
Acting on a petition filed in 2018 by Rajesh Tandon in the high court against PBA for non-adoption of the national sports code on the lines of the parent body, Badminton Association of India (BAI), the court issued directions to the state sports ministry to sort out the matter.
As per the BAI’s constitution and national sports code, each of the 19 affiliated district units have two votes each, making the electoral college of 38 votes.
“Sixteen district units have openly announced their support in favor of Bharat Bhushan Ashu, so most likely it will be a unanimous election,” says former national-level badminton player Ritin Khanna, who is part of Jalandhar district’s executive body.
Hurdles ahead
Rajinder Kalsi, who is currently the honorary general secretary of PBA, claims that he has not been kept in the loop, while announcing the elections. “The current elections are not held as per the PBA constitution, which was revised in August 2019 and approved by the general house. As per the current PBA constitution, the electoral college is of 51 votes, which includes two votes each of the 19 district units and 13 votes of executive members,” says Kalsi. “As per my knowledge, the BAI is not sending an observer, which is mandatory for holding the state unit elections.”
After the elections on December 13, the main challenge for the newly elected body of PBA will be to get the national body’s approval. “Nobody is challenging the current elections, as the state machinery is involved. But getting affiliation from BAI will be a challenge. And someone might approach the BAI or the court challenging the elections,” said an official in the PBA’s incumbent body, who didn’t want to be named.
