Assistant RO accepts nominations of P.T. Usha, Harjinder Singh; rejects objections

FIle photo of P.T. Usha. | Photo Credit: The Hindu The Electoral Officer of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has accepted the nominations of its president P.T. Usha and Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) Secretary General Harjinder Singh to the electoral college for its December 5 elections, rejecting objections raised against their inclusion.A faction of the IHAI on Friday (November 13, 2026) claimed that track legend Usha was not a member of the national federation of the sport and thus cannot represent it in the General Body of the IOA.The objections, received on November 13, 2026 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., 2026Harjinder and Srinivas Kotni appeared at the meeting 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 if an individual associated with a particular sport could be a member only of the corresponding National Sports Federation (NSF) or could also opt for membership of another NSF.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 Assistant RO's decision, shared with PTI, there was no clarity or distinguishing provision on the issue in either the IOA constitution or the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and its related rules.Article 10.4 of the IOA Constitution ratified in September this year says that "the representatives nominated by each unit (NSF) must be members of such units (NSFs)".After examining the objections and the submissions made by the parties, the Electoral Officer rejected the objections and accepted the nominations.After failing to get elected as one of the four female Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs), Usha was on Thursday nominated to the General Body by IHAI as one of its two representatives to keep her re-election bid alive.Former IOA President Narinder Batra had also objected to the nomination of Usha and Executive Committee member Harpal Singh from the Ice Hockey Association of India and Ski and Snowboard India.He 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 Ice Hockey Association of India, the category of membership under which she was admitted and the specific provision of IHAI's constitution under which such membership was granted.The Electoral Officer will publish the final Electoral roll on Sunday (November 15, 2026) evening. Published - November 15, 2026 01:22 pm IST