Polls on mind, states to skip Boxing India meeting

JAIPUR: With the Boxing India elections round the corner, most of the state associations are staying away from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed adhoc committee's meeting to be held in New Delhi on Thursday.
Though, the ad-hoc committee has made it clear that the agenda of the meeting is to decide on the dates for national championships and National Games preparation, most of the state associations that TOI spoke to indicated that they would skip the meeting as it could lead to 'complications' ahead of BI's September 11 elections.
While, Maharashtra, Haryana, Bengal have made up their mind not to attend the meeting, the North-Eastern states like Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh have requested the ad-hoc committee to conduct the meeting after the elections.
"The state championships have started today, so there's no question of attending the meeting. We have written to the ad-hoc committee chairman (Tarlochan Singh) requesting him to postpone it till the elections are held. It would lead to more trouble otherwise," John F Kharshiing, president of Meghalaya Boxing Association, told TOI.
A few associations have adopted the wait-and-watch policy .While, Rajasthan Boxing Association has decided to participate in the meeting, the ones like Delhi, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand are yet make their stand clear.
"This meeting has nothing to do with elections, and is for the betterment of the sport. So, we have decided to join the meeting," RBA president Dalpat Singh Arya said.
Even as ad-hoc committee convener Rakesh Gupta said that the meeting would go as per schedule, some of the administrators are wondering what made the ad-hoc committee call for a meeting at this hour.
"This could misguide people. Even if they declare the dates for the National championships, it has to be sanctioned by the new committee that takes charge after the elections," Bengal Amateur Boxing Federation president Asit Banerjee said.