Ajay Singh, the current Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president and SpiceJet Airlines chairman, will face competition from secretary general Hemanta Kalita and vice president Rajesh Bhandari in the BFI elections scheduled for March 28. There is also a fourth candidate for the post of president in the form of D Chandralal, who is the Kerala State Amateur Boxing Association secretary.
The Uttarakhand state body has proposed Singh's candidature for a third straight term.
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March 16 was the final date for nomination submissions, and the elections will be conducted during the BFI's Annual General Meeting in Gurugram. The Returning Officer RK Gauba approved the list provided by the BFI president.
While Kalita serves as the Assam Amateur Boxing Association secretary, Bhandari heads the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association. Bhandari has submitted his nomination for both the presidential position and his current role as North Zone vice president.
Anurag Thakur, the former Sports Minister, was anticipated to vie for the presidential position, with his nomination coming from the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association. Despite Kalita including Thakur in a separate list, his name was absent from the Electoral College finalised by Singh.
Singh had said Thakur was "ineligible" to represent Himachal Pradesh. The possibility of legal action against this ruling remains open for Thakur's supporters.
Several candidates are competing for the secretary position, including Pramod Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, Satish N from Karnataka, Anil Kumar Bohidar from Odisha and current treasurer Digvijay Singh from Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, Digvijay has submitted his nomination for the treasurer role.
Eight zonal vice presidents and an equal number of zonal joint secretaries will be chosen through the election process.
The examination of nomination papers is set for Tuesday, while the list of valid nominations and withdrawals will be released on March 19.
In February, the Indian Olympic Association had put in place a five-member ad hoc committee to supervise the functioning of the boxing federation. The Delhi High Court subsequently stayed this decision after the federation contested it.
