NEW DELHI: After more than six months of legal fights that delayed the process, Ajay Singh was re-elected as President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for a third straight term. Singh won by a wide margin over his opponent, Jaslal Pradhan, with a final vote total of 40 to 26.
Rajesh Tandon, the Returning Officer, and Fairuz Mohammed of Singapore, an observer from World Boxing, saw the polls, which were supposed to happen on March 28. It’s important to note that neither the World Boxing President nor the Secretary General were there, nor were any observers from the Sports Ministry or the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The new leadership team also comprises Pramod Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, who was chosen as the new secretary general, and Pon Baskaran from Tamil Nadu, who will be the treasurer. According to the cooling-off period regulation, Hemanta Kalita, the former secretary general, could not run again after serving two four-year terms in a row.
The newly elected team will be in charge of the federation while it fights a legal battle. The Delhi High Court is currently hearing a petition in which various state units have contested the constitutional revisions made by the BFI’s interim committee. The election results will depend on the outcome of this litigation. World Boxing approved these changes, which had been the focus of the legal battles that kept the elections from going forward.
After winning, Singh said he will work to expand on the federation’s progress. He told PTI, “I’m just glad that we can keep doing the good work that the BFI has been doing for the past eight years.” He pointed out that India’s worldwide boxing rankings had gone up a lot, from 44th place eight years ago to 4th place in the world now. Singh also said that he wants to give Indian boxers more chances to win Olympic medals and make India even more important on the world stage.