Indian Olympic Association president P T Usha was defeated on Monday in the election for the four women's Sportspersons of Merit (SOM) berths, with former shuttler Saina Nehwal, long jumper Anju Bobby George, ex-archer Dola Banerjee and former hockey captain Rani Rampal taking the seats in a vote overshadowed by complaints of code violations.
A tally carried in one account of the results put Anju on top with 53 votes, followed by Rani on 50, Dola on 45, Saina on 43 and Usha on 40. Former basketball player Anitha Pauldurai, the sixth candidate, finished last with six votes.
The men's quota was settled on Saturday, when Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Vijender Singh and Yogeshwar Dutt, along with former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, were returned unopposed after eight other nominations were withdrawn.
The result complicates Usha's route to the December 5 Executive Council polls. She can stand only if a National Sports Federation nominates her to the General Assembly, which is considered unlikely, and she is not expected to be one of the two Athletics Federation of India representatives. The IOA Constitution requires a presidential candidate to be an SOM or a General Assembly member. Usha became the body's first woman president in 2022, elected unopposed through the SOM route.
Eighty SOMs, 40 men and 40 women, make up the electoral roll that picked the four women representatives. The eight elected SOMs will sit on the IOA General Assembly, which lets them vote and contest the December 5 election, and two of them, one from each gender, will also serve on the new Executive Council.
Usha complained to Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivasatava that Banerjee had broken the poll code by forwarding a WhatsApp message backing a 'New Bharat Panel' and listing four names with ballot serial numbers and roll numbers. Usha's complaint said the message went out from an account carrying Banerjee's name.
Commonwealth Games gold-winning weightlifter Sathish Sivalingam also wrote to Srivasatava, alleging "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 "the resources of the IOA are being used for this purpose". He did not name Usha.
(With inputs from media reports)