Voice against Indian Olympic Association President N Ramachandran gains strength

The infighting among the top brass of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) came out in the open on Saturday after Bowling Federation of India (BFI) joined Hockey India (HI) in demanding a special general body meeting to take up a 'no-confidence motion' against association's incumbent president N Ramachandran.

BFI president Sunaina Kumari and secretary general DR Saini sent a letter to the IOA stating that it has no confidence in Ramachandran and a meeting should be called at the earliest to vote on the issue.

It all started with HI president Narendra Batra claiming that the majority of the National Sports Federations and State Olympic Associations are in favour of removing Ramachandran.

"As per Rule VIII (i) and (ii) of IOA Constitution, we Bowling Federation of India are moving a no confidence motion against Mr N Ramachandran, president, IOA, as we are totally in disagreement with his working and along with it, we also feel he is working towards weakening and finishing off the IOA," the BFI letter stated.

As per the IOA constitution, a no-confidence motion against the president, secretary general, treasurer and other executive council members can be passed if two-thirds of the members are present and voting. The quorum for such a meeting will have to be three-fourths of the total strength of the IOA general body entitled to vote.

The IOA general body has 183 votes in total — three each for National Sports Federation — status bodies and two each for State Olympic bodies.

Nanavati likely to take over?
With IOA elections held in February last year and the term of the office-bearers will only expire next year, senior vice-president Virendra Nanavati could be asked to take over in case Ramachandran is voted out in coming days.

The IOA constitution is clear on this issue: "In the event of prolonged absence of the president, the senior vice-president will take over the duties and responsibilities of the president during the period of (his) absence".

Though, the Badminton Association of India president Akhilesh Das Gupta is also a vice-president, Nanavati seems to be far ahead in the race.

Discontent against Ramachandran had been brewing for quite some time with many members feeling that the IOA chief was running the show all by himself without taking others into confidence.

Ramachandran's move to keep IOA office-bearers, including secretary general Rajiv Mehta, in the dark before he visited International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach in Lausanne, Switzerland, along with sports secretary Ajit Sharan was the trigger point in this whole episode.

Jajodia swings into action
Meanwhile, faced with a possible termination as Boxing India (BI) chief in a General Council meeting on Sunday, Sandeep Jajodia swung into action and sent a letter to International Boxing Association (AIBA) president Chong-Kuo Wu, informing him about the current crisis in the national body.

The BI general house is set to pass a no-confidence motion against Jajodia and secretary Jay Kawli. This would simply means that Abhay Singh Chautala, whom AIBA had categorically banned from contesting elections in September 2014, would again be controlling the BI through his proxy.

It would be interesting to see how AIBA is going to react after Sunday's meeting because BI general house also has world body's sanction. "AIBA can only raise objection if Chautala contests," said a BI official, adding: "And he will certainly not be making this mistake."