CHENNAI: The list of validly nominated candidates for the Volleyball Federation of India elections was finalised on Thursday. Going by the final list of nominated candidates, there are three names contesting for the president’s post. Former president Achyuta Samanta’s name doesn’t feature on the list but going by list, secretary of the last elected federation Anil Choudhury is backing a few candidates.
Among the three names for the president’s post, Anand Shankar Rajhans is being supported by the former members who were part of the VFI executive committee. Interestingly, Prem Singh Bajor’s name figures among two names nominated by the Bihar body for the electoral college. The third name is Virender Kanwar from Himachal Pradesh. He is also the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association president and apparently has been associated with sports for quite some time.
There are four names for two vice presidents' posts. NV Hanmanath Reddy from Telangana, Susanta Biswasarma, former Assam cricketer and Assam volleyball president, Sidharth Daluja of Jammu and Kashmir and Vijay Tulsiram Dangre of Maharashtra are in fray.
For the post of secretary, there are three names after one name was rejected. Mohammad Akram Khan from Chhattisgarh, who proposed the name of Kanwar for the post of president, found himself on the list. Meanwhile, AJ Martin Sudhakar of Tamil Nadu was rejected by returning officer and former Karnataka High Court judge P Krishna Bhat on technicalities. Other two names are Ramanand Choudhury of Rajasthan proposed by Anil Choudhury and Sunil Kumar Tiwari and Nilesh Vishnu Jagtap, backed by Prem Singh Bajor and seconded by Dilip Gurung.
Interestingly, there are only two names instead of three for the post of treasurer. They are Hari Singh Chauhan proposed by Ramanand Choudhury and Uttam Raj of Jharkhand. Prakash Borah of Assam is proposed by Jagtap and Lepcha Norbu. There are eight names for two joint secretary posts and 12 names for five posts. As expected there are repetitions in names and as the date for withdrawal draws near on Saturday, more clarity will emerge.