IOA elections: PT Usha to be officially elected as first woman president
New Delhi (PTI): The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the governing body's polls on Saturday, ushering in a new era in country's sports administration.
The 58-year-old Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final, will be declared elected unopposed for the top post in the polls being held under the supervision of Supreme Court-appointed retired SC judge L Nageswara Rao.
The elevation of Usha to the top job will also mark the end of the long drawn crisis in the faction-ridden IOA, which was warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee if elections, originally due in December last year, are not held this month.
The elections will be held to choose joint secretary (female) and four ordinary members of the executive council and 77 members of the electoral college will cast their votes.
Alaknanda Ashok of Badminton Association of India and Suman Kaushik of Netball Federation of India are in the fray in a straight fight for the joint secretary's (female) post.
The voters will choose four members of the executive council out of the eight candidates in the fray.
The eight candidates are Amitabh Sharma, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Cyrus Poncha, Harjinder Singh, Harpal Singh, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Rohit Rajpal and Vitthal Shirgaonkar.
It will be an altogether new responsibility for Usha, an iconic track and field star, as she has no experience of holding any top office earlier. She is currently the chairperson of junior selection committee of Athletics Federation of India. She has also been in the various national awards committees set up by the government, over the years.
Usha, fondly known as the 'Payyoli Express', is being seen as a candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which had nominated her as a Rajya Sabha member in July.
She will also become the first Olympian and first international medallist to head the IOA in its 95-year-old history, adding another feather in her cap after dominating Indian and Asian athletics for two decades before retiring in 2000 with a bagful of international medals.
Usha is the first sportsperson to have represented the country and also become IOA chief since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, who played a Test match in 1934. Singh was the third IOA president who held office from 1938 to 1960.
Ajay Patel of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will be elected unopposed as senior vice-president. Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang and Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo will also be elected unopposed as vice presidents.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Sahdev Yadav will be the treasurer as he is the lone candidate for the post.
All India Football Federation president and former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey will be elected unopposed as the joint secretary (male).
Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and archer Dola Banerjee will be in the executive council as male and female representatives of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM).
One candidate for vice president (female) and four for the executive council members had earlier withdrawn from the fray.
High-profile politicians like Union Minister Arjun Munda, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP Member of Parliament Brijbhushan Sharan Singh are expected to cast their votes.
Some of the country's past and present top sporstpersons like Sakshi Malik, PV Sindhu, MM Somaya and Akhil Kumar, besides Usha, Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, will also cast their votes.
The new executive council will also be substantially different from the earlier ones. At least five of the 14 executive council members (including IOC member in India, Nita Ambani), will be former sportspersons, which is unprecedented in the IOA history.
Only the likes of Sahdev Yadav and Rajlaxmi Singh Deo remain in the top post from the earlier IOA executive council.
The IOA adopted the new constitution, prepared by justice Rao, on November 10 after getting approval from the international committee.
The 77-strong electoral college has 66 members from 33 National Sports Federations which have nominated one male and one female each, eight SOMs (four male and four female), two from the Athletes Commission (one male and one female) and IOC member in India, Nita Ambani.
The IOA electoral college also has more women members (39) compared to male (38).
The IOA elections were due in December last year but could not be held owing to a pending case in the Delhi High Court where a petition was filed, seeking amendment in its constitution before holding elections to align it with the National Sports Code.
The Supreme Court later appointed justice (retired) Rao to draft the constitution and also hold elections.
On Tuesday, the IOC has noted the "significant progress" made by the IOA in resolving its governance issues but said that it will not decide on withdrawing the warning for a ban until it completes the elections process.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
