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Ajay Singh re-elected as Boxing Federation of India president
Singh defeated Sikkim unit’s Jaslal Pradhan, while UP unit’s Pramod Kumar was elected the secretary general, defeating Digvijay Singh
New Delhi: Incumbent Ajay Singh was elected as the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president for a third straight term after his panel registered a comfortable win on Thursday. Singh defeated Sikkim unit’s Jaslal Pradhan 40-26, while UP unit’s Pramod Kumar was elected the secretary general, defeating MP unit’s Digvijay Singh 36 votes to 30.
Kumar replaced Assam’s Hemanta Kalita who according to the Sports Code was ineligible to contest after serving two consecutive four-year terms as an office-bearer and will now head into the mandatory cooling-off period. The other contestant, Delhi’s Neeraj Jain, withdrew his nomination earlier in the day.
The treasurer’s post was a three-way fight which saw Tamil Nadu’s Pon Baskaran defeating Odisha’s Anil Kumar Bohidar and Pondicherry’s R Gopu. The elections had participation from 34 state units representing 66 votes.
The results remain subject to the final outcome of an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court, where several state units have challenged the constitutional amendments introduced by the interim committee that had been overseeing BFI’s daily affairs since April.
The elections, originally scheduled for March 28, were postponed after a series of litigation and were conducted in the presence of Returning Officer Justice (retd) Rajesh Tandon and BFI interim committee head Fairuz Mohammed of Singapore Boxing Federation, who was sent by World Boxing as its observer. World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst and Secretary General Mike McAtee, who were originally set to be observers, did not attend the polls.
The Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) didn’t send any observers. The ministry said it would adopt a wait and watch approach for now. “We have already told the Delhi High Court that we do not think that the procedure followed in the conduct of these elections is right. We will wait now and see what the court says,” a ministry official said.
While allowing the election to go ahead, a Delhi high court bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna, in its August 18 order had noted, “It (The elections) will be subject to the outcome of the writ petition, and in case you’ve done something which is not as per law, the court will take note of that and then pass orders. Sports is no longer sports, it’s politics, actually. The Constitution cannot be against the sports code and the rules. I’m not giving any stamp of approval for that (amended Constitution).”
“This court notes the submissions made that the elections that are being held are against the tenor of the national sports code, as well as in complete violation of the constitution of the BFI and model election guidelines. If that is the case, this court has already clarified that the elections of the BFI shall be subject to the outcome of the present writ petitions. In case this court, at the time of final hearing of the matters, comes to the conclusion that there have been violations of the national sports code or BFI’s constitution has been amended in a wrongful manner, appropriate orders shall be passed by this court. It is further clarified that no special equity shall be claimed by the newly elected executive of the BFI,” the court had said.
