CHENNAI: Drama surrounding the All India Chess Federation (AICF) elections took a crucial turn on Tuesday, when the Madras High Court upheld president PR Venketrama Raja’s decision to hold it in Chennai on February 10. Retired Justice FMI Kalifullah will be the returning officer. The court also stayed the elections called by secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan in Ahmedabad on February 9.
“The special meeting of the general body of AICF to elect office-bearers shall be held on 10.2.20 at Chennai,” read the order accessed by Express. Other than vindicating the Raja faction’s stand that the president can’t be overruled on matters like these unless the central council decides otherwise, this puts the Chauhan section in a spot of bother. The last date for sending names of representatives who will contest and vote is over. The secretary’s group had put up a list for the February 9 meeting, which is not valid anymore. So unless the electoral college is formed afresh, they stay out of the electoral process.
While Chauhan could not be contacted, sources said he will challenge Tuesday’s order in the Supreme Court. His group may also appeal to the Madras High Court to extend the last date for finalising the electoral college. Chauhan is an aspirant for the secretary’s post. His name is not in the list relewased by the president. It also doesn’t feature Ajay Patel, who is this group’s choice for president. According to rules, only those part of the electoral college can contest elections.
The Raja faction was satisfied with the turn of events. “After the president declared that elections will be held on February 10, to call for parallel elections on February 9 was illegal,” said RM Dongre, this group’s choice for secretary. “We were confident that our argument was right. Without the approval of the central council, the secretary can’t overturn the president’s decision.”
The Chauhan faction isn’t giving in yet. “We are hearing that the electoral college can be formed again, to include associations who had sent names of representatives for the elections we were going to hold. I don’t think so many associations can be left out of the elections. There is also a possibility of exploring legal avenues,” said an official who supports Chauhan.
There could be more complication in store if the list of voters is drawn afresh. Of the 33, there are at least five associations from which two different sets of names have been submitted. If all of them turn up claiming to be authorised representatives, the matter will have to be dealt with by a court or Justice Kalifullah, who was part of the Supreme Court bench that ruled on the BCCI reforms case.
However, the Raja group is confident that the names they have received from 19 units have been approved by the presidents of the respective state associations. The faction led by Chauhan may have to think of a new move quickly to stay in the game.