CHENNAI: There will be no contests for the posts of office-bearers of Indian Golf Union (IGU) at the elections on December 27. Following the withdrawal of two candidates for secretary and treasurer, there is just one candidate each for these posts. There was not going to be any contest for president and vice-president anyway, since there was just one nomination for each.
Polling, however, will take place to elect the Governing Council members. For nine of these positions, 13 nominations were received. After scrutiny, all 13 were declared valid by court-appointed returning officer Justice (retd) RK Gauba. Due to travel apprehensions caused by the pandemic, polling will be done online.
After nominations were filed, Lt Gen D Anbu and Brijinder Singh were the lone contestants for president and vice-president, respectively. Lt Gen Asit Mistry and Amit Luthra were the candidates for secretary. Ishwar Achanta and Shyam Sunder were the candidates for treasurer. Dec 19-21 were the dates for withdrawal of nominations. Luthra and Sunder withdrew, paving the way for Mistry and Achanta to be elected unopposed.
It seems Luthra and Sunder realised after filing nominations that they don’t have the numbers. There are 27 voting units, with two votes from each. While the side led by Anbu had candidates for all four posts of office-bearers, the other side could field candidates for just two.
This indicated which way the wind was blowing. “As per the notified schedule, withdrawal of candidature was permitted from 19.12.2020 to 21.12.2020. Availing of the said liberty, two candidates have submitted withdrawal of their respective candidature as under — 1 Mr Asit Luthra (for the post of hony secretary) 2 Mr Shyam Sunder (for the post of hony treasurer),” read a statement from the returning officer.
According to a sports ministry directive, elections in national sports federations have to be held before December 31. Otherwise, they risk being de-recognised for noncompliance with the National Sports Development Code.
Candidates
President: Lt Gen D Anbu. Vice-president: Brijinder Singh. Secretary: Lt Gen Asit Mistry. Treasurer: Ishwar Achanta.