Union Minister Anurag Thakur | Image: PTI
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Anurag Thakur to include the election of the election to be held on March 28 and said that former Sports Minister is not eligible to represent Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association sent the names of Thakur and President Rajesh Bhandari for the election.
BFI released a 60 -member electoral list which was finalized after investigation. Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP Thakur was expected to present candidature for the post of BFI President.
Explaining the decision, BFI said, “The name of Anurag Singh Thakur (Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association) was sent by the state unit. However, he has been found to be disqualified due to notice dated March 7, 2025 by the Indian Boxing Federation and violation of the National Sports Development Conduct 2011. “
The March 7 notice sent to all concerned state associations stated that only real and duly elected members of state units affiliated to BFI during the AGM (notified to BFI) would be authorized to represent their respective states/union territories.
A BFI source said, “Thakur is not an elected member of the Himachal Pradesh State Union, hence his name has been rejected. It is the job of BFI to check all names and send a list of qualified candidates to the Election Officer which will now upload the list. ”
However, Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association (HPBA) claimed that Thakur is an elected member of the Executive Council of the state unit.
HPBA Secretary Surendra Kumar Shandil told PTI, “Anurag Thakur is an elected member. He has been in various positions including the Speaker for the last several years. But now he is elected as a member of the Executive Council. We have all the documents. ”
He said, “We have given two names on our behalf, let the Election Officer do his work.” The BFI source argued that being a sports institution in the country, he has records of the previous elections of the state associations and Thakur’s name is not among them.
The BFI source said, “If you look at the election held last year in Himachal, you will not get the name of Thakur in the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee has seven members including a representative of JSW, so which Anurag Thakur is talking about. ”
According to the BFI Constitution, ‘Each member union will be represented by two member delegates authorized by the President or General Secretary of the Union in the Electoral Board’. Elections are to be held on March 28 but the last date for filing nominations and withdrawal of names has not been announced by BFI yet.
Shandil said, “We have not come to any program which is a delayed strategy by BFI.” BFI President Ajay Singh is expected to contest again. He has already completed two term as the head of the federation. Ajay Singh is the chairman and managing director of Spice Jet.
The BFI also dismissed the names of Larry Kharpran (Meghalaya) and Ashish Kumar Saha (Tripura) for this reason and clarified that two names sent by the Delhi State Union were under approval from Rohit Jainendra Jain and Neeraj Kant Bhat Election Officer.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formed a five -member ad hoc panel to oversee the daily work of boxing in the country after BFI failed to hold timely elections.
However, on March 4, when the federation appealed to the Delhi High Court, the court stayed the order and termed the move as ‘arbitrary and illegal’. BFI was to hold elections on or before on 2 February 2025.
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