BFI excludes Anurag Thakur's name from electoral college for elections

New Delhi: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Wednesday rejected Anurag Thakur's nomination for inclusion in the electoral college finalised for the March 28 elections, saying the former Sports Minister was not eligible to represent Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association had sent Thakur and Vice President Rajesh Bhandari's names.

The BFI issued a 60-member electoral college that was finalised after scrutiny.

"Mr. Anurag Singh Thakur (Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association) - The State Unit had sent the name, however, he is found ineligible for violation of Boxing Federation of India notice dated 07.03.2025 and National Sports Development Code of India, 2011," BFI said, explaining the decision.

The March 7 notice, sent to all affiliated state associations, had mentioned that only bonafide and duly elected members during the election AGM (duly notified to BFI) of the State Units affiliated with the BFI shall be authorised to represent their respective States/Union Territories.

"Mr Thakur is not an elected member of the Himachal Pradesh state body, that's why his name has been rejected. It is the job of the BFI to scrutnise all the names and send the list of eligible candidates to the Returning Officer, who will now upload the list," said a BFI source.

The BFI also rejected names of Larry Kharpran (Meghalya) and Asish Kumar Saha (Tripura) for the same reason and clarified that the two names sent by Delhi state body -- Rohit Jainendra Jain and Neeraj Kant Bhatt -- were subject to clearance from the Returning Officer.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had set up a five-member Ad-hoc panel to oversee day to day functioning of boxing in the country after the BFI failed to conduct election on time.

However, the Delhi High Court on March 4 stayed the order when the Federation approached it, terming the move as “arbitrary and illegal”.

The BFI was supposed to conduct its election on or before February 2, 2025.