Five officials instead of 15 in AICF?

CHENNAI : The decision of the returning officer stands, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is headed for an unprecedented situation. The body has 15 posts for office-bearers. Going by the number of nominations deemed valid for the elections, just five can contest. They will be elected unopposed on February 23 and the AICF will function without 10 office-bearers.

Things can change if the Madras High Court upholds the appeal against the returning officer’s ruling. The faction led by AICF president PR Venketrama Raja is expected to challenge the decision on Tuesday. All 15 names put forward by this panel are among the 23 nominations rejected by returning officer FMI Kalifulla. This includes Raja himself.

However, if the court doesn’t rule against Kalifulla’s decision to cancel the candidature of those who didn’t file nominations in person, the AICF will end up with five office-bearers instead of 15 when the elections take place in Hyderabad. Members can’t recall if this has ever happened in the nearly seven-decade existence of the federation.

All five nominations accepted are from the group led by secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, who is seeking reelection. The other four are Ajay Patel (contestant for the president’s post), Naresh Sharma (treasurer), Arun Singh (joint-secretary) and Vipnesh Bharadwaj (vice-president). As of now, they will be elected unopposed.

While the Raja camp is wondering how or if the AICF can be run with five officials, the Chauhan group thinks the issue can be addressed after the polls. Although Chauhan himself said “let’s cross the bridge when we come to it”, a member of this faction said a solution will be found. “We will go by the constitution and see whether to hold fresh elections for the vacant posts. We have to find out if they will have to be elected or can be nominated by the president or secretary,” said Sharma, a joint-secretary in the current set-up.