IOA elections: PT Usha to be officially elected as first woman president

The legendary PT Usha will be officially elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association IOA during the governing bodys polls on Saturday ushering in a new era in countrys sports administrationThe 58yearold Usha a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final will be declared elected unopposed for the top post in the polls being held under the supervision of Supreme Courtappointed retired SC judge L Nageswara RaoThe elevation of Usha to the top job will also mark the end of the long drawn crisis in the factionridden IOA which was warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee if elections originally due in December last year are not held this monthThe elections will be held to choose joint secretary female and four ordinary members of the executive council and 77 members of the electoral college will cast their votesAlso readPT Usha set to be elected as Indian Olympic Association chiefAlaknanda Ashok of Badminton Association of India and Suman Kaushik of Netball Federation of India are in the fray in a straight fight for the joint secretarys female postThe voters will choose four members of the executive council out of the eight candidates in the frayThe eight candidates are Amitabh Sharma Bhupender Singh Bajwa Cyrus Poncha Harjinder Singh Harpal Singh Parminder Singh Dhindsa Rohit Rajpal and Vitthal ShirgaonkarIt will be an altogether new responsibility for Usha an iconic track and field star as she has no experience of holding any top office earlier She is currently the chairperson of junior selection committee of Athletics Federation of India She has also been in the various national awards committees set up by the government over the yearsUsha fondly known as the Payyoli Express is being seen as a candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which had nominated her as a Rajya Sabha member in JulyShe will also become the first Olympian and first international medallist to head the IOA in its 95yearold history adding another feather in her cap after dominating Indian and Asian athletics for two decades before retiring in 2000 with a bagful of international medalsUsha is the first sportsperson to have represented the country and also become IOA chief since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh who played a Test match in 1934Singh was the third IOA president who held office from 1938 to 1960Ajay Patel of National Rifle Association of India NRAI will be elected unopposed as senior vicepresident Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang and Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo will also be elected unopposed as vice presidentsIndian Weightlifting Federation IWF president Sahdev Yadav will be the treasurer as he is the lone candidate for the postAll India Football Federation president and former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey will be elected unopposed as the joint secretary maleOlympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and archer Dola Banerjee will be in the executive council as male and female representatives of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit SOMOne candidate for vice president female and four for the executive council members had earlier withdrawn from the frayHighprofile politicians like Union Minister Arjun Munda Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP Member of Parliament Brijbhushan Sharan Singh are expected to cast their votesSome of the countrys past and present top sporstpersons like Sakshi Malik PV Sindhu MM Somaya and Akhil Kumar besides Usha Gagan Narang Yogeshwar Dutt will also cast their votesThe new executive council will also be substantially different from the earlier ones At least five of the 14 executive council members including IOC member in India Nita Ambani will be former sportspersons which is unprecedented in the IOA historyOnly the likes of Sahdev Yadav and Rajlaxmi Singh Deo remain in the top post from the earlier IOA executive councilThe IOA adopted the new constitution prepared by justice Rao on November 10 after getting approval from the international committeeThe 77strong electoral college has 66 members from 33 National Sports Federations which have nominated one male and one female each eight SOMs four male and four female two from the Athletes Commission one male and one female and IOC member in India Nita AmbaniThe IOA electoral college also has more women members 39 compared to male 38The IOA elections were due in December last year but could not be held owing to a pending case in the Delhi High Court where a petition was filed seeking amendment in its constitution before holding elections to align it with the National Sports CodeThe Supreme Court later appointed justice retired Rao to draft the constitution and also hold electionsOn Tuesday the IOC has noted the significant progress made by the IOA in resolving its governance issues but said that it will not decide on withdrawing the warning for a ban until it completes the 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