NRAI to elect its president on September 14

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will elect its president on September 14 to fill the position left vacant last year after Raninder Singh ended his 12-year-long tenure, the maximum permissible under the National Sports Code.

NRAI secretary-general Sultan Singh told PTI that the elections will only be held for the post of president for the remaining term left in the current electoral cycle, which effectively is just one year.

“The elections will only be for the post of president for the remaining term. We will call a general body meeting on September 14 in Delhi and the president will be elected on the same day,” said Singh.

Last year, the Sports Ministry issued a directive that heads of national sports federations cannot hold office for more than 12 years as per the National Sports Code.

The NRAI has been headed for the last 16 months by senior vice-president Kalikesh Singh Deo, who took charge after Raninder quit the post in April last year.

“The process was taken up a long time back, the Returning Officer was appointed. But there were objections raised by certain state associations, so they were disposed of by an order and after that, only the elections are taking place,” said the NRAI secretary general

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“(Retd) Chief Justice Anil Dev Singh is the Returning Officer. He is the former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court,” he said.

The ministry has also asked the NRAI to hold elections for the post of president within the prescribed timeline, failing which “appropriate action” would be taken as per the Sports Code.

The ministry had pointed out in March last year that Raninder had completed 12 years as president — from December 29, 2010, to December 29, 2022 — and as per the code, he cannot continue any further.

Raninder was re-elected NRAI president for the last time in September 2021.

A source said that NRAI wanted to have a president in place before the prestigious ISSF World Cup Final at the Karni Singh Ranges in October.

“The World Cup Final in October and the Indian shooters’ performance at the Paris Olympics have put the spotlight on the federation and they want to hold the elections when things are looking positive,” the source said.

Several key issues, like appointing new coaches and High-Performance Director for the next Olympic cycle, might also come up during the General Body Meeting, the source added, but Singh said that as of now the only thing on the agenda was to elect the president.

It also remains to be seen how Paris Olympics double bronze-medallist pistol shooter Manu Bhaker’s personal coach Jaspal Rana is incorporated in the federation’s larger scheme of things, given that the legendary marksman had alleged this year that he was asked to leave the Karni Singh Range by HPD Pierre Beauchamp, thus kicking up a storm.