WFI polls on August 12, Maharashtra declared ineligible
The much-delayed Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections will be held on August 12, Returning Officer (RO) Justice (retired) MM Kumar announced on Friday. The state of Maharashtra will not be represented in the electoral college after both its warring factions were declared ineligible via a nine-page order from the RO.
"I find both the rival factions ineligible to nominate any of their (Maharashtra) members to constitute electoral college and reject their claims," the RO noted.
The ad-hoc panel formed by the IOA had earlier scheduled the elections for July 6. The date was pushed by five days to July 11 after disaffiliated state bodies from Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh approached the committee. Despite a round of discussion between the disgruntled units and the ad hoc panel, the polls could not be held on schedule with Gauhati High Court staying the elections after Assam Wrestling Association (AWA) sought the right to participate in the poll process.
The Supreme Court stayed the Gauhati High Court order on Tuesday, paving the way for the elections.
The electoral college will now have 48 members with voting rights from 24 state bodies. The nominations for posts will be filed on July 28, 29, and 31 and the RO will prepare the electoral college on August 1. The final list of nominees will be declared on August 7 and the voting if required, will be done on August 12.
The new poll schedule comes a day before the selection trials for the Asian Games. Trials for the Belgrade World Championships (September 16-24), an Olympic qualifier, need to be conducted before August 15, meaning the new WFI dispensation will have barely three days to adhere to the schedule.
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