JOIN USThe much-delayed Karnataka Athletics Association election process took another turn for the worse with its vice-president Sunil Kumar Shetty calling for polls on April 8, a move that came under fire from several of its members.
The election date has been set for April 8 and Thursday was the last date for district associations to submit the names of their representatives to the KAA.
But several district officials who turned up at the KAA office found that there was no one to receive their documents. "We have been waiting since afternoon but there is no one here. This is ridiculous. If today is the last day, someone should have been here to receive the documents. We got the letter informing of the elections only two days back (in a letter dated March 15). We have sent our details by post but since we were not sure it would reach on time, we decided to come here personally," said an official.
Ashwini Nachappa, KAA vice-president, said it was against the bye-laws for the vice-president to call for elections. "It has to be either the president or the secretary," she said. "Moreover, no meeting was called to discuss the dates. It is all a mess."
KAA secretary Chandrasekhar Rai, strangely, said he wasn't connected with the current election process. "If president or secretary is not available, vice president can call for elections," he said.
An earlier attempt to hold the elections had met with a chaotic end in June last year. The district associations had approached the high court, which directed the KAA, on November 27 last year, to hold the elections within 90 days. In case they failed to do so, the registrar of societies had to conduct the polls, the court had said. KAA, obviously, has failed to meet that deadline.
As per the latest circular, March 31 is the last date for filing nominations. The scrutiny and publication of nominations will be on April 2, with April 3 being the day to withdraw the nominations. The final list of candidates will be published on April 3, with the elections scheduled for April 8.