CHENNAI: It was supposed to be a routine election. It has turned out to be an intriguing one. Initially, there were rumours that a former top player and coach was showing an inclination to contest elections, and by late Wednesday there were indications that the next secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) could well be him.
It is understood that national chief coach, Pullela Gopichand, threw his hat in the ring and decided to contest the elections for the post of general secretary. Though there was no official confirmation, there were indications that Gopichand had found favour among the top officials of BAI.
Given his credentials as a player and a coach, support was expected. However, relieving a sitting secretary was not ideal.
On the first day, only the president had filed his nomination. The others are expected to follow suit on Thursday. The last date for filing nominations is March 11. The last date of withdrawal is March 19 and the election will be held on March 25.
The BAI had its elections four years ago in April and usually, the same set of officials are expected to continue unless there are serious differences between certain officials.
In the case of BAI, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the chief minister of Assam, was elected the president while Ajay Singhania had taken over the post of general secretary. Former union minister Anbumani Ramadoss was elected as its treasurer.
According to the Sports Code, the president has three four-year terms and the other two office bearers have two four-year terms.
On Wednesday, the BAI president flew down to hold discussions with all the stakeholders. There were discussions in Delhi until late at night. According to insiders, there will be no contest for any posts and all positions would be unanimously elected.
However, a clause in the BAI constitution specifies that outgoing office-bearers or members of the executive council only can contest for the post of secretary.
According to a 2020 sports ministry circular, while renewing National Sports Federation's annual recognition, the ministry had asked almost all federations, including BAI, to align their constitution with Sports Code. And one clause that seems restrictive like the one above should be removed. Gopichand is Telangana Badminton Association general secretary.
There have been issues within the BAI of late. The appointment of foreign coaches had been taking more time than usual. There has been no clarity on the role of the chief national coach too.
In the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, Gopichand could not be accommodated as the chief national coach because of foreign coaches.
There were occasions when the chief national coach was not part of meetings between the BAI and Sports Authority of India too. Though Gopichand seems to be the favourite, until he files his nomination, nothing is certain.