New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president and legendary athlete PT Usha has suffered a huge setback in her bid to get re-elected as IOA chief after failing to get elected as one of the four female Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit (SOM) candidates to the IOA board in an acrimonious and contentious poll, with allegations of interference flying thick and fast.

According to reports, Usha finished fifth in the poll for Sportswomen of Outstanding Merit (SOM), upstaged by Anju Bobby George, Rani Rampal, Dola Banerjee and Saina Nehwal, and thus failed to get elected as only four spots were available. Anju topped the poll with 53 votes while Nehwal finished fourth with 43 votes. Usha got only 40 votes and failed to get elected as SOM.

As of now, Usha is no longer eligible to retain the post of IOA President when the polls are conducted on December 5. However, her chances are not totally over as the National Sports Federations (NSFs) have yet to nominate their representatives and can be picked by one of them.

The IOA board includes eight positions -- four male and four female -- reserved for Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit. On Saturday, Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt and Vijender Singh, along with table tennis legend Kamlesh Mehta, were all elected unopposed as male Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit. However, no consensus could be reached in the case of the nominations for women SOMs.

There were a lot of discussions and persuasion, with allegations of interference. Six outstanding sportswomen were in the fray, and on Monday four of them were picked, and Usha was not one of them.

In the case of male sportspersons, three of the four are considered close to the ruling BJP, with Yogeshwar and Vijender being members of the party. Nehwal too is a BJP member, while Usha is a Rajya Sabha member elected with BJP's support.

But Monday's election of Nehwal ahead of Usha proves the mathematics is in favour of the badminton player.

Overall, the selection of eight SOMs has worked out in favour of incumbent IOA vice-president Gagan Narang, as he has emerged as the front-runner in the IOA elections. Narang has recently shifted base from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad and seems to have got the support of the Gujarat lobby in BJP.

Now, it has to be seen whether it is curtains for Usha or whether she is able to conjure some magic and remain in the fray.

--IANS

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