AOA member to represent Meghalaya in HI polls

New Delhi: In a bizzare incident, the electoral college of Hockey India has revealed that a member

of the Assam Olympic Association (AOA) will represent Hockey Meghalaya in the much-awaited polls of the federation here on Thursday. According to an FIR lodged by Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) general secretary, D Syiemlieh in Shillong`s Sardar Police Station, Hockey Meghalaya representative in tomorrow`s elections, Raj Kakoti is the treasurer of AOA while women member Sumita Sinha also hails from Assam. In his FIR Syimeliah claimed that in tomorrow`s HI polls both Kakoti and Sinha are representating Hockey Meghalaya, which is presently non-functioning, without the proper authorisation of Hockey Meghalaya and MSOA. "It has come to the notice of the MSOA that two individuals one Shri Raj Kakoti (at present fucntioning as Treasurer of of Assam Olympic Association) and Smti Sumita Sinha both from Assam have claimed themselves to be members of Hockey Meghalaya with the mala fide intention to be members of the electoral college for the forthcoming election of Hockey India," the FIR read. "The act by the two named persons to represent the state of Meghalaya without any authorisation by anybody from Hockey Meghalaya or the umbrella organisation of MSOA or the Sports and Youth Affairs Department tantamount to an act of fraud with mala fide to mislead the Returning Officer of the said election," it said. "Therefore, I request you to kindly register this FIR against the two persons as they have engaged in act of fraud with the intention of cheating and misrepresenting the state of Meghalaya when they are ac tually residing in Assam and are not legitimate Members of any association of Meghalaya ," the FIR added. The copy of the said FIR has also been marked to the Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya, commisioner and secretary Meghalaya Sports and Youth Affairs Department among others. The Under Secretary of the Sports and Youth Affairs Department, Meghalaya government, R Nonglait today lodeged a protest against the fraud with HI secretary general Narinder Batra and Returning Officer for the polls Justice R C Chopra. Incidentally, Kakoti, who is also the secretary of the Assam Taekwondo Association, was the manager of the IndiaN men`s hockey team which finished last in the four-nation tournament in Hamburg last month. He was also the manager of the Rajpal Singh-led side that toured Belgium, France and the Netherlans for Test series after the Hamburg tournament. While defying the government`s age limitation guidelines HI has filed 83-year-old Vidya Stokes for the post of president, but a tough fight awaits her as she will be up against former India captain Pargat Singh. HI election has run into rough weather since its inception. Incidentally, the much-awaited polls were postponed four times earlier for varied reasons, most recently on July 28 after the Delhi and Bombay High Courts stayed the election process. While the Delhi High Court stayed the polls following the failure of the Central government to clarify its legal position regarding HI and IHF, the Bombay High Court did the same on a petition filed by the Maharashtra Hockey Association. HI, however, moved the Supreme Court against the orders and managed to vacate the stay on July 30 and obtain a green signal from the apex court to hold its elections. However, the Sports Ministry on Monday gave new twist to the drama surrounding the national game when it issued show cause nitce to both HI and KPS Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation. While the ministry demanded explanation from HI before tomorrow`s polls why it should not be derecognised in the wake of its submission before the Delhi High Court that it is a private body, the government gave IHF 14 days time to reply how it proposes to meet it`s as well as the International Hockey Federations`s (FIH) guidelines. PTI