Boxing India faces allegations of manipulating election rules

New Delhi: The tug of war ahead of the much-delayed elections to form a new Indian Boxing Federation is intensifying with every approaching day and the body entrusted with the job of conducting the polls is now facing allegations of manipulating the election rules.

Boxing India (BI), the body recognised by the International Boxing Association to conduct the elections, continues to face opposition from the participating state units ahead of the September 11 polls.

The Nagaland Amateur Boxing Association is the latest voice of dissent and its Secretary General T Meren Paul has written to BI Secretary General Mohit Bhagchandani and Returning Officer Justice (retd) D K Deshmukh on some technical issues.

Paul has alleged that last-minute changes have been made to the election manual, which, according to him, initially did not allow for one person to be a proposer and seconder for more than one candidate.

Rakesh Thakran, a contestant for the Secretary General's post, had demanded the rejection of his rival Jay Kowli's nomination papers on this ground.

Thakran, who represents the Haryana State Boxing Association, had claimed that Kowli's nomination papers could not stand scrutiny as his candidature was seconded by the same man, who acted as a proposer for two other candidates.

Bharatkumar Whaval, from the Maharashtra Boxing Association, had acted as proposer to Hiren Pandit and Amarjit Singh and a seconder to Kowli's nomination for the Secretary General's post.

However, Kowli has pointed out a clause in the election rules which states that only the "nomination papers delivered second in point of time to the Returning Officer shall be deemed to be inoperative".

Paul has alleged that this sub-clause was not a part of the original rules and could be a ploy to manipulate the nominations.

"This addition of new sentence is illegal and unauthorised that amounts to manipulation of the official text of Rules and Regulation of BI. Till the General Body make suitable amendment to the Rules and Regulation, nobody has the right to add or delete any words or sentence to the mandated Rules and Regulations. Therefore, this new sentence that is illegal cannot be applied and taken into cognisance," he has written in his letter.

"I am also constraint to point out that the aforesaid (original) provision was applied in the process of scrutiny just last month in the postponed election and should be continued to apply in the present process too for consistency in the application of Election Rules of BI with prejudice to none," he added.

"What are we fighting for? Practice manipulation right from the beginning? We are being watched for even the slightest mistake so be very careful," he warned.

The last date for filing nominations for the polls has been set at September 6.

The elections, being conducted by the provisionally recognised Boxing India (BI), have been mired in controversy. The voting was initially scheduled to be held on July 9 but was postponed by BI, citing a directive from the International Boxing Association.

BI itself is coping quite a bit of resentment from the state associations, some of which have stated that the AIBA-recognised body is trying to manipulate the polls to get its favoured candidates elected.

The national federation was terminated in December 2012 by AIBA on charges of "possible manipulation" in elections. The federation was officially terminated in March this year and AIBA recognised BI as the provisional body and entrusted it with the task of conducting fresh elections.