Candidate list for Chandigarh Olympic Association poll finalised

The decks have been cleared to elect the new Chandigarh Olympic Association (COA) House, with the list of the candidates being finalised. Former UT Advisor Dharam Pal and local educator Ranjan Sethi will be contesting for the top post, which has been lying defunct for over two decades now.

Pal, who was part of two associations (softball and athletics) had filed his nominations from Chandigarh Athletics Association, after resigning from the Chandigarh Softball Association — which was not affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) — on September 30, a few months before the election notification.

Meanwhile, Sethi, who was elected as the COA treasure in 2023, has filed is nominations from Chandigarh Rugby Football Association. Sethi had recently introduced a football academy with Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) and also remained part of the COA’s last House, which witnessed infighting among the various sporting units. Sethi had in the past announced State Olympic Games, but the event did not materialise owing to the infighting.

The list of candidates contesting on the post of secretary is also interesting. Former UT Sports Department coach Darshan Lal has filed his nomination from Chandigarh Wrestling Association, along with Harish Kumar Kakkar from Chandigarh Table Tennis Association and Sudhershan Kumar from Wushu Association of Chandigarh.

Despite retiring from the department, Lal continued his dominance over the local wrestling affairs and remained part of the local fraternity. While website lists Rajesh Sharma as the president of the wrestling association, his contact credential lists Lal’s mobile number.

Kakkar’s story is no different. He resigned from the post of secretary of the table tennis association in 2019 and was opposed by one of his former trainees. However, soon after retiring from his government job, he was appointed as executive member of the same association recently.

The contest between senior vice-president will see KP Singh of Chandigarh Football Association — a body which has not conducted elections for general secretary for long — and Chandigarh Police DSP Charanjit Singh Virk go up against each other.

The list for vice-president also includes Sanjeev Kumar Branta, Iqbal Singh Dhillon, Lt Col PK Jetley, Rajiv Sharma and Deepak Kumar Singh.

Anil Yadav and Kamaldeep Singh will be contesting for the post of honourary joint secretary, while for the treasure’s post will witness a contest between PS Lamba and Shubhjot Singh Chadha.

Besides, the list of candidates contesting for members include Ramesh Handa, Rajesh Sharma, Jayant Kumar Atreya, Rajinder Goel and Naresh Kumar.

The Deputy Commissioner-appointed administrator has decided to hold the elections for choosing the new House on November 21.

The voting will be held at the Office of the Returning Officer, UT Secretariat, Sector 9, from 10 am to 3 pm. The elections will be held for choosing a president, a secretary, a senior vice-president, a treasurer, a joint secretary, two vice-presidents and four members.