CHENNAI: The Indian Olympic Association election is getting more and more intriguing after the electoral college was decided on Monday. The Returning Officer of the IOA election, Umesh Sinha, released the names of 33 National Sports Federations and their 66 (one male and one female) valid members, eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs), one International Olympic Committee member and two Athletes' Commission representatives. The number of persons who can vote will be 77 (39 female and 38 male) and they can file nominations for various posts in the Executive Council, including that of the president.
As reported by this newspaper, big names like the current chief minister of a state and a union minister, industrialists, former athletes, an actor and veteran IOA members are part of the electoral college. After the Badminton Association of India president Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the Assam chief minister and considered a top BJP leader, entered the fray, things got more perplexing. There are indications that he could be one of the potential candidates for the post of president.
There are other indicators that suggest otherwise. He is a very busy chief minister and with the 2024 elections on the horizon, there would be quite a lot on his plate. The nominations will be filed from November 25 to 27 and a lot can change before that. But since he has decided to attend the Annual General Meeting and election on December 10 there are various possibilities in the mix. And there is no restriction in the IOA constitution that would force him to not contest.
There are other big names doing the rounds. Olympian and Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla, whom most members of the IOA selected to be the acting president after Narinder Batra stepped down, is expected to get the same backing. There were some 16 members of the old EC who supported him. They were against IOA secretary general Rajiv Mehta's faction. It needs to be seen if Sumariwalla would throw his hat in the ring. BFI chief Ajay Singh too is a strong candidate. Then there is one name that everyone is looking at keenly International Olympic Committee member Nita Ambani. No one is ruling her out either.
Indications are consensus would be the word that would be dominant when members decide to stand for elections especially, for the president's post. However, there are other posts in the EC too. The bargaining chips of all factions will be out. There is a senior vice president and two vice presidents' posts. There will be two joint secretaries and six EC members (one male and one female from the SOMs). Two athletes' representatives (chairperson Mary Kom and vice chairperson Sharath Kamal) have already been decided.
There are BJP leaders in the electoral college Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India, Arjun Munda of the Archery Association, Kalyan Chaubey of All India Football Federation, Anil Jain of All India Tennis Association and there is chairman and managing director of Spicejet Ajay Singh of Boxing Federation of India and actor Rahul Bose of Indian Rugby Football Union.
Interestingly, even Mehta is part of the college. But it seems unlikely he will contest elections as he has already served two terms of four years each and according to the new constitution, he is ineligible to contest. Interestingly, Shiva Keshavan from Luge federation is part of the electoral college. He is already among the 10 Athletes' representatives.
Whatever happens, the next two days of hectic parleys and negotiations will pave way for the next set of office bearers. There are various scenarios and a lot can change until November 27, the last day of filing nominations for various posts.