Peeved at being left out of the upcoming elections of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), Maharashtra and Rajasthan have questioned their non-inclusion.
The two States were not part of the 30-affiliate voters list on the grounds of being non-compliant with the National Sports Code. In its representation to the Returning Officer Justice Vineet Saran, Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association said, “Sir, we had done a lot of exercise to comply with the National Sports Code. However, it seems that there are still some shortcomings and due to that our name has not been included in the electoral list.
“We further inform you that many State Associations were also informed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) of shortcomings in their compliance. However, as regards MSTTA, no such response was ever received. Had we received any such response, all shortcomings would have been rectified.”
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Representatives of Maharashtra and Rajasthan are due to meet the RO on Saturday.
In addition, in keeping with the stipulation mentioned in the Election Notice, dated November 23, 2022, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have given an undertaking to comply fully with the National Sports Code by 31.01.2023.
Kamlesh Mehta cannot be a member of ATTA - Maharashtra
In another significant development, Maharashtra has objected to the name of eight-time National champion Kamlesh Mehta as a representative of Assam Table Tennis Association in elections. The MSSTA Secretary General Yatin Tipnis has written to the Returning Officer, maintaining that “till date, Kamlesh is a member of the MSTTA and therefore cannot be a member of ATTA.”
To further his argument, Tipnis points to the TTFI Constitution’s Clause 17 that states, “Each affiliated Permanent Member State/ Union Territory units shall be represented by Two Representatives authorised (in writing) by the president and secretary of the affiliated Member State/Union Territory units, in the AGM / SGM / Extraordinary Meetings. Such Representatives must be a duly elected member of the Executive Committee of State/UT Association during the AGM where the other office-bearers were elected.”
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Tipnis writes, “We have also come to know that Assam Table Tennis Association have not conducted any Executive Committee/AGM/SGM and have only sent a letter to TTFI that too on 15.11.2022 that because of time constraint they could not conduct any meeting and sought time to comply with the COA letter dated 30.10.2022 and despite that their name has been included in the electoral list, completely in contravention of Rule 17 of TTFI Constitution.
Emphasising on the need to remove the name of Kamlesh from the list of eligible voter, Mr. Tipnis says, “As per National Sports code a person cannot be a member of two State associations at the same time and therefore Mr Kamlesh Mehta being a Member of Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association cannot become delegate of Assam Table Tennis Association.”
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