Move to Oust IOA Chief Ramachandran Gathers Steam

The move to oust Indian Olympic Association president N Ramachandran on Tuesday gathered steam as two National Sports Federation and two state Olympic Association joined the chorus in demanding a No Confidence Motion against him by calling a Special General Meeting.

Two NSFs, Badminton Association of India and Modern Pentathlon shot off letters to the IOA to convene a Special General Meeting to vote on the No Confidence Motion against Ramachandran while the state Olympic associations of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh did the same.

Hockey India, Bowling Federation of India and Jharkhand Olympic Association have already moved a No Confidence Motion against Ramachandran and called for an SGM of the IOA to vote on the issue.

"As per Rule VIII (i) and (ii) of IOA Constitution, we Badminton Association of India are moving a vote of no confidence against Mr N Ramachandran, President IOA," BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta and General Secretary Vijai Sinha wrote in a letter addressed to the IOA president, secretary general and treasurer.

"We request you to convene the Special General Meeting (SGM) of IOA at the earliest to discuss on the vote of no confidence against Mr N Ramachandran, president IOA," the BAI said.

Das Gupta is currently one of the vice-presidents of the IOA. He is also the president of Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association.

Modern Pentathlon general secretary Namdev Shirgaonkar told PTI that his NSF has also moved a No Confidence Motion against Ramachandran.

"Yes, we have moved the No Confidence Motion against Mr Ramachandran. We support the move started by Hockey India," he said.

Bihar Olympic Association secretary Md Mushtaque Ahmad, who is the secretary general of Hockey India, also confirmed that his state unit has demanded a No Confidence Motion against the IOA chief.

There were also indications that the state Olympic associations of Maharashtra, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar have also joined the chorus to oust Ramachandran but it is yet to be officially announced.

According to the IOA constitution, a No Confidence Motion against the president, secretary general, treasurer and other executive council members can be passed if two-third majority 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.

An SGM may be convened at any time by the IOA president or the Executive Council or on a written requisition signed by presidents and secretaries of not less than 50 per cent member units within one month from the date of receipt by the president of the said requisition.

If the president of IOA fails to convene a meeting, then the requisitionists can convene the meeting under arrangements made directly by them. The IOA General Body has 183 votes in total -- three each for NSFs and two each for state Olympic bodies. The infighting among the top brass of the IOA, which came out of a 14-month suspension only last year, got exposed just days after International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach's first visit to the country after taking over as IOC chief in 2013.

In his one-day whirlwind visit on April 27, Bach had called for unity among the IOA members so that they can work together for the betterment of Indian sports and sportspersons. He has also laid to rest the speculation that India may bid for 2024 Olympic Games. Discontent against Ramachandran had been brewing for quite some time now with many members feeling that the IOA chief was running the show all by himself without consulting other officials. Ramachandran's move to keep IOA office bearers, including secretary general Rajiv Mehta, in the dark before he visited Bach in Lausanne, Switzerland, along with sports secretary Ajit Sharan also did not go down well with some members.