PT Usha to be first female IOA president

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, November 27

Sprint queen PT Usha will be the next president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The deadline for filing nominations for the IOA election ended today and Usha is the only candidate for the president’s post

The elevation of Usha to the top post, to be officially announced on December 10, makes her the first female athlete to head IOA.

Ajay H Patel will be named the senior vice-president and Sahdev Yadav the treasurer of IOA as no one else filed their nominations for these important positions.

London Olympics bronze medal winner Gagan Narang will also be elected unopposed as a vice-president. However, there will be competition for the post of the second vice-president, which has to be a woman. There are two candidates for this post — Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo and Alaknanda Ashok.

In fact, Rajlaxmi’s nomination was an unexpected stumbling block for the Usha panel, which has the tacit support of the government. The move forced Alaknanda to file her nomination for the post of female joint secretary as well.

All-India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey is through as joint secretary as he is the sole male candidate for the post. However, Alaknanda’s last-hour entry in the fray has made it a contest of three among the women as Shalini Thakur Chawla and Suman Kaushik have also filed their papers.

However, it is expected that Shalini will withdraw her papers by the last date for withdrawal, December 3.

There are 14 candidates for the post of six executive council members, and prominent among them are Shiva Kesavan, Rohit Rajpal, Dola Banerjee, Yogeshwar Dutt and Cyrus Poncha.