PT Usha Cleared For IOA Elections As Electoral Officer Rejects Objections

The Electoral Officer of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has accepted the nominations of its president PT Usha and Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) Secretary General Harjinder Singh to the electoral college for the December 5 elections, rejecting objections raised against their inclusion. A faction of the IHAI had on Friday claimed that track legend Usha was not a member of the national federation and therefore could not represent it in the IOA General Body. The objections, received on November 13 against the provisional electoral college, questioned the eligibility of Usha and Harjinder, both listed as members of the IHAI.

The Electoral Officer sought a response from the IHAI and called its representatives for a personal hearing on November 14.

Harjinder and Srinivas Kotni appeared at the hearing and confirmed that Usha and the current Secretary General were active members of the association.

They also submitted a detailed affidavit, attested by a notary on November 14, along with records and clarifications in response to the objections.

During the proceedings, a clarification was sought from the IOA on whether an individual associated with a particular sport could only be a member of the corresponding National Sports Federation (NSF) or could also opt for membership in another NSF.

The IOA clarified that "the mere fact that an individual is a member of another NSF does not, by itself, operate as an automatic disqualification."

According to the Assistant Returning Officer's decision, shared with PTI, there was no specific provision in either the IOA Constitution or the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and its related rules that would disqualify an individual on those grounds.

Article 10.4 of the IOA Constitution, ratified in September this year, states that "the representatives nominated by each unit (NSF) must be members of such units (NSFs)."

After examining the objections and the submissions made by all parties concerned, the Electoral Officer rejected the objections and accepted the nominations.

After failing to secure election as one of the four female Sportspersons of Merit (SOM) representatives, Usha was on Thursday nominated to the General Body by the IHAI as one of its two representatives, keeping her re-election hopes alive.

Former IOA president Narinder Batra had also objected to the nominations of Usha and Executive Committee member Harpal Singh from the Ice Hockey Association of India and Ski and Snowboard India.

Batra requested IOA Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava to verify Usha's original membership application, the date on which she was admitted as a member of the IHAI, the category of membership under which she was admitted, and the specific provision of the federation's constitution under which such membership had been granted.

The Electoral Officer is scheduled to publish the final electoral roll on Sunday evening.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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