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.
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Odisha woman raped twice in a day, dies after being thrown off four-storey building; 2 held
Paradip (Odisha) (PTI): A 23-year-old woman was raped twice in a day in separate places by her boyfriend and a stranger offering help and then thrown off a four-storey building, leading to her death, in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district, police said on Friday.
Police arrested both the accused and booked them under various sections of BNS for kidnapping, rape and murder.
"The incident took place on February 22 after the woman left her house with plans to elope with her boyfriend, who had asked her to come to a temple by promising to marry her. However, he took her to a secluded place, raped her and abandoned her at Rahama bus stand," Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Ankit Kumar Verma told reporters.
As the victim was waiting at the bus stand, another man hailing from Jharkhand, who was heading to nearby Paradip on his motorcycle, saw the hapless woman and offered help.
He, however, took her to the roof of his rented accommodation at a place in Paradip town and raped her again, the SP said.
The accused then threw the woman from the roof of the building, leading to her death, he said, adding her body was found the next morning.
The SP said the victim's brother lodged a complaint at Paradip Model police station on February 25, alleging that his sister was raped and murdered on February 22. An unnatural death case was registered on February 23 following the recovery of the woman's body.
Earlier, in the evening of February 22, the woman's brother had lodged a missing persons case at Tirtol police station when his sister did not return home.
BJD supremo and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, Naveen Patnaik, condemned the incident and demanded justice for the woman and other victims of recent rape incidents.
"How many more innocent lives will be lost? From underage girls to differently abled young women, no one is safe. So, is the rule of law still in place in the state? The news of heinous crimes coming from Kanhari in Angul, Kuchinda in Sambalpur, and Paradip is deeply disturbing. Chaos everywhere, insecurity all around, O Mother!" he said in an X post.
"While the government delivers long-winded speeches on women's safety and law and order, the ground reality is extremely alarming. Even in broad daylight, an atmosphere of fear prevails. Despite repeated instances of such deplorable incidents, the government's failure to take any exemplary, stringent action is emboldening the criminals. The government should take proactive steps to spread awareness on women's safety and ensure the rule of law is upheld in the state," the former CM added.
