Das Gupta re-elected BAI president

Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta was here Monday re-elected unopposed for a four-year term starting June 2014.

Secretary general Vijai Sinha and treasurer Ashok Bajaj were also re-elected unopposed.

With most office bearers elected without contest, polling will take place Jan 25 only for the post of secretary - coaching and development where Bihar Badminton Association secretary K.N. Jaiswal will take on Assam Badminton Association secretary Omar Rashid.

"The unanimous verdict to back me for another term is a sign of trust and faith the association has in me. Since I took over as the president, I have worked towards uniting all the stakeholders and the results have been showing on and off the field," Das Gupta said.

"We did a lot in the short period we had but responsibilities and stakes will be much higher now. With Indian badminton in spotlight at home and abroad, BAI would do everything to put up a grand show."

Das Gupta added that BAI would constitute a special fund of Rs.25 lakh for former players' assistance.

"This is one of the concrete steps we have taken and is first-of-its-kind fund we have constituted and is part of our effort to help former players who need financial assistance," he said.

List of elected candidates:

President: Akhilesh Das Gupta

Vice-presidents: T.P.S. Puri, Devender Singh, Pradeep Gandhe, Ashok Singh, Arvind Singhal, Bijoy Koizam

Chairman committees: Abdul Bari Siddiqui (Finance), S. Muralidharan (Court officials), S.A. Raval (Coaching development), O.D. Sharma (Tournament)

General secretary: Vijay Sinha

Treasurer: Ashok Bajaj

Secretary - tournaments: K.C. Punnaiah Choudhary

Secretary - coaching and development: Omar Rashid/K.N. Jaiswal (Election Jan 25)

Joint secretaries: K.K. Sharma, N.C. Sudhir, J. Arawindan, P. Ankamma Choudary, Alaknanada Ashok, Narahar Thakur, Sekhar Biswas, K.N. Jaiswal

Executive committee members: S.A. Shetty, Maniklal Saha, K. Lianhmingthanga, Hodam Gyaneswor Singh, Watizulu, K. Prabhakar Rao, Ramesh Nambiar, Ajay Singhania, S.T. Desai, Rajinder Sharma, Pradip Mohanty, M.C. Sethi.