Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha’s bid for a second term suffered a major setback after she failed to secure a place among the four elected female Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs).
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha on Monday failed to get elected as one of the four female Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs) in a controversial contest, virtually ending her re-election bid to the top job of the national Olympic body.
Usha ended up fifth in the virtual polls in a field of six female candidates, out of which four were to be elected.
Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal, legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George, former archer Dola Banerjee and former Indian women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal were elected as the four female SOMs.
The 62-year-old Usha can now stand for the IOA president’s post in the polls to be held on December 5 only if she is nominated to the General Assembly by a National Sports Federation (NSF), which is unlikely.
The track and field legend, who missed a 400m hurdles Olympic bronze medal by a whisker in the 1984 Games, is not expected to be one of the two representatives from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
In 2022, Usha was elected unopposed as IOA’s first woman president via the SOM route.
Under the IOA Constitution, the candidate for the president will have to be an SOM or a member of the General Assembly.
Thus, the decorated athlete is set to end her association with the IOA after one term of four years.
More from SportsMost of her four-year term has been tumultuous, with the majority of the Executive Council members against her, only to come to a patch-up before India’s bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and 2036 Olympics.
“Considering that she lost the SOM election, the NSF, which nominates her as one of two representatives to the IOA General Assembly, will have to be really brave and courageous one. So basically, her chance of getting into the General Assembly is minimal,” an outgoing Executive Council member said.
In a separate notice issued by the Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, the two representatives will have to be members of the NSF nominating them. That provision will even make Usha’s nomination by an NSF almost impossible.
“Each representative shall be a member of the concerned NSF entitled to vote, a citizen of India, less than 70 years of age, a person of good standing, sound judgment and independent mind with knowledge of and belief in Olympic principles, said the notification issued by the Electoral Officer,” the notice issued by EO Srivastava stated.
Eighty SOMs — 40 men and 40 women — form the electoral roll for the election of the four female representatives. All the 80 SOMs cast their votes, according to the election result issued by Srivastava.
Anju got 53 votes, the highest among the six candidates, while Rani received 50. Dola and Saina got 45 and 43 votes respectively in the virtual polls held between 9 am and 5 pm on Monday.
Usha was fifth with 40 votes, while former basketball player Anitha Paul Durai got six votes.
On Saturday, Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Vijender Singh and Yogeshwar Dutt as well as former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta were elected unopposed as four male SOMs after eight other candidates withdrew their nominations.
The 43-year-old Gagan, who won a 10m air rifle bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics, is considered one of the strong contenders for the top job of the IOA.
The eight elected SOMs will become members of the IOA General Assembly, making them eligible to vote as well as stand in the December 5 polls of the new Executive Council.
Two SOMs — one man and one woman — will also become members of the IOA Executive Council.
Allegations and counter-allegations
Controversy struck the IOA SOM election when Usha lodged a complaint with Electoral Officer Srivastava, alleging that former archer Dola violated the Model Code of Conduct by circulating a WhatsApp message soliciting votes.
In her complaint, Usha objected to a WhatsApp message circulated through an account bearing Banerjee’s name, seeking support for the ‘New Bharat Panel’ and specifically asking voters to elect four named candidates, along with their ballot serial numbers and roll numbers.
Commonwealth Games gold-winning weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam lodged a complaint to EO Srivastava that “an organised effort is underway to influence members of the Electoral Roll in favour of a contesting candidate who is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association”.
“… and that resources of the IOA are being used for this purpose,” Sivalingam, one of the 80 SOMs taking part in the voting, wrote to Srivastava without taking Usha’s name.
Initially, there were 27 contestants in the fray for the eight SOMs before the number of candidates was reduced to 23 on November 5.
However, on Saturday, eight male former athletes withdrew their candidatures in inexplicable circumstances.
World Athletics Vice President Adille Sumariwalla, table tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal, former shuttler B Sai Praneeth, former weightlifter Sathish, 1980 Olympics hockey gold winner Surinder Singh Shokar and former shooters Ronjan Sodhi, Mansher Singh and Moraad Ali Khan withdrew their candidatures.
Among female SOMs, those who withdrew their candidature were former sprinter Ashwini Nachappa, former archer Chekrovolu Swuro, ex-shuttler Trupti Murgunde, Neelam Setti Laxmi from weightlifting and Ragina Kiro from Canoeing and Kayaking.