HI releases representatives for elections

NEW DELHI: Hockey India on Wednesday set the ball rolling for its much-awaited July 28 elections by releasing names of 56 authorised representatives from 30 state and institutional units to cast their votes.

Prominent among those who will take part in the Annual General Meeting and Elections on July 28 here include HI president Vidya Stokes and Secretary General Narinder Batra and Olympians Pargat Singh, Thoiba Singh, Gurbux Singh and AB Subbiah.

Stokes and Batra have been nominated from Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir respectively while Pargat and Thoiba will represent Punjab and Manipur in the elections.

Karnataka, which has been allowed participation in the elections by a court order, will be represented by former India goalkeeper AB Subbiah while Bengal will have Gurbux Singh in the elections.

Four institutional units of Services Sports Control Board, Railway Sports Promotion Board, Inter-University Sports Board and Air India Sports Division will be represented by one members while each state unit will have two representatives, a male and a female.

Hockey Andhra Pradesh has also nominated its two members but will not have voting rights, a Hockey India release said.

HI on Tuesday said it has received a no-objection certificate from the government to conduct its elections on July 28.

The Sports Ministry has already appointed S K Mendiratta as the Election Observer while Retired High Court Judge R C Chopra has been appointed as the Returning Officer.

Hockey India had ratified the affiliations of 33 units, including four institutional boards, during its Special General Meeting, last month.