Top tennis official Anil Khanna's candidature for the post of Indian Olympics Association (IOA) President in the December polls was cleared on Thursday by the Returning Officer, a development which left three contestants in the fray.
International Hockey Federation President Narinder Batra and Indian Weightlifting Federation chief Birendra Prasad Baishya are the other two whose nomination papers were found to be in order after a scrutiny.
Khanna, a former president of the All India Tennis Association and current Asian Tennis Federation chief, had seconded Batra's nomination for the post of president but decided at the last minute to also jump into the fray himself.
His last minute filing of nomination papers after seconding a candidate's name for the same post was challenged by S M Hashmi and four others with complaints being filed to Returning Officer S K Mendiratta.
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