'CWG-tainted' Lalit Bhanot elected IOA General Secretary unopposed, churns fresh row

Tainted sports administrator Lalit Bhanot's unopposed election to the post of Indian Olympic Association's secretary general today created a fresh controversy but the IOA justified its decision by saying that he has yet not been pronounced guilty by the court of law.

Bhanot, who spent nearly a year in jail last year in connection with the Commonwealth Games corruption case, was elected secretary general of the IOA along with Virendra Nanavati (senior vice-president) and N Ramachandran (treasurer) after the three-member IOA Election Commission, headed by Justice (retd) Anil Dev Singh, put up the final list of candidates.

Abhay Singh Chautala has also been elected unopposed as the president of the IOA after all the candidates contesting the key IOA posts withdrew from the elections.

Chautala's election as president had become clear last Sunday when his rival Randhir Singh withdrew his nomination for the post but the official declaration came after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended last evening.

Chautala, while defending the candidature of Bhanot, told mediapersons here that any person, until convicted by the court, was free to contest a election.

"In our country, there are several important figures against whom cases are registered. A lot of cases have been registered on political grounds against politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, J Jayalalitha, Om Prakash Chautala, Prakash Singh Badal and many others. They are running the state governments of their respective states.

"The point I am trying to make here is that it's up to the court to decide whether a person is guilty or not. A person until convicted is free to contest. Bhanot has not been proven guilty as yet," said Chautala.

"One thing I would like to clarify in the case of Bhanot is that the IOC did not write any letter to the IOA directly. Jagdish Tytler had written a letter to the IOC asking whether Bhanot can contest the elections or not. The IOC replied to the letter addressing it to Tytler and not to the IOA", he said.

... contd.

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