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Boxing Federation of India Elections Set for Thursday

In New Delhi, Olympian Jaslal Pradhan is set to contest against Ajay Singh, who is aiming for a third consecutive term as president of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI). The elections, which have faced numerous delays, are scheduled for Thursday.

The final candidate list reveals that Singh, representing Uttarakhand, will face Pradhan, the head of the Sikkim Amateur Boxing Association and a participant in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the light welterweight division. This follows the disqualification of former BFI vice president Rajesh Bhandari, who was ruled out for breaching the Model Election Guidelines, as confirmed by Returning Officer Justice (retd) Rajesh Tandon.

Despite his disqualification for the presidential race, Bhandari will still run for the vice-president position.

For the secretary-general role, contenders include Pramod Kumar from Uttar Pradesh Boxing, former BFI treasurer Digvijay Singh, and Neeraj Jain from Delhi.

The treasurer's position will see competition from Tamil Nadu's Pon Baskaran, R. Gopu from Pondicherry, and Anil Bohidar from Odisha.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court has allowed the elections to proceed, despite ongoing legal challenges from four state units regarding the BFI interim committee's decision to hold the polls and the legitimacy of the new constitution. However, the election results will be contingent upon the final ruling of the case.

The previous BFI office-bearers' term concluded on February 2, and the elections were originally slated for March 28 but were postponed due to legal disputes.