3 in race for IOA prez, Mehta set to be re-elected as secy-gen

Three candidates have filed nomination papers for the post of president while Rajeev Mehta is set to be re-elected unopposed as secretary-general in the Indian Olympic Association polls, to be held on December 14.
After the deadline for filing of nominations ended at 2pm today, the Returning Officer S K Mendiratta published the list of the nominated candidates.
International Hockey Federation President Narinder Batra, current IOA treasurer Anil Khanna and vice-president Birendra Prasad Baishya have filed nomination papers for the top job.
Incumbent Mehta, meanwhile, was the lone candidate to have filed nomination papers for the post of secretary general till the deadline and is set to be re-elected for a second term.

Batra, the head of IHF, filed four sets of nomination papers on November 26 with Mehta and treasurer Anil Khanna being the proposers and seconders respectively.
But there was a last-minute surprise as Khanna himself and Baishya filed nomination papers towards the end of the deadline. Khanna filed his nomination at 12:35pm while Baishya did the same just minutes before the 2pm deadline.

Indications that there could be withdrawals later were evident from the fact that both Batra and Khanna also filed their nomination papers for the lone post of senior vice- president.
Incumbent Virendra Nanavati and current vice-presidents R K Anand and Janardhan Singh Gehlot were the other three candidates who filed nomination papers for the lone senior vice-president's post.

Nanavati, Baishya and Gehlot were also among those who filed nominations for the eight posts of vice-presidents.
Others who filed nominations for vice-presidents are former BJP National Council member Sudhanshu Mittal, Debendranath Sarangi, Tarlochan Singh, S M Bali, Parminder Singh Dhindsa, K Govindraj, Karan Chautala, Malav Shroff, Adille Sumariwalla, Sunaina Kumari, Dushyant Chautala, Kuldeep Vats, Ashutosh Sharma, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Viraj Sagar Das, Anil Jain.
For the post of treasurer, Rakesh Gupta, Mukesh Kumar and Anandeshwar Pandey filed the nomination papers.
Those who filed nomination papers for the post of six joint secretary are Onkar Singh, Rakesh Gupta, Namdev Shirgaonkar, S M Bali, Vikram Sisodia, Kuldeep Vats, Mukesh Kumar, Raja K S Sidhu, D V Seetharama Rao and Ramavatar Singh Jhakar.

There will election for 10 other Executive Council members, for which 26 candidates have filed nomination papers.
Scrutiny of all the nomination papers will be done on November 30 while withdrawals are allowed till 4pm of December 3.
Meanwhile, the IOA will hold a Special General Body Meeting here tomorrow to "discuss and interpret" the eligibility criteria for election to the post of president and secretary general.
But with the RO, Mendiratta, having issued a notice on the same matter, the SGM may now accept his ruling when the members assemble. He has ruled that office bearers and members of the Executive Council elected in 2012 and 2014 can contest for the post of president and secretary general.

This ruling cleared the candidature of Batra, who was one of the vice-presidents from 2012 to 2014. He was not a member of the Executive Council that was elected in February 2014 when India returned to the Olympic fold after a ban of 14 months.