PT Usha and Sports Minister-Chief Minister on Golf Federation: Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha has written a sharp reply to a letter written to the Sports Ministry (which is also with NewsDeskReport) and has accused the Sports Ministry of not adopting the policy of transparency and good governance. In the same letter, PT Usha has also written that the officials of the ministry hide the facts from the Sports Minister.

Actually, this whole issue is related to the elections of Indian Golf Union (IGU- Indian Golf Union). The two factions of IGU called for separate elections on December 15, 2024. Of these, the election of Harish Shetty faction was held on 15th December in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) building in which representatives of golf associations of 21 states participated. Whereas, officials of 9 state associations joined Brijender Singh’s group. The IOA recognized the election of the Golf Association representing 21 state associations (Harish Shetty faction) while the Sports Ministry recognized the election of the golf association representing 9 state associations (Brijender Singh faction).

Usha’s befitting reply

Earlier this year, on January 2, the Under Secretary of the Sports Ministry wrote a letter to PT Usha and IOA and said that the election of Harish Shetty faction cannot get legal recognition. PT Usha has written in response to this letter that the letter of the Sports Ministry has neither been written following the legal procedure nor are the facts in it correct. Rajya Sabha member and IOA President PT Usha has written in the letter, “Sir, ever since I took charge of the IOA, it is clear that the officials of the ministry are not telling you (the Sports Minister) the correct facts.”

PT Usha has written that as per Article 22 of the Constitution of IGU, the faction of Golf Association which is being recognized by the Ministry (Brijender Singh faction), the minimum quorum was not maintained in their AGM. That is, the AGM called by Brijender Singh’s group for the elections did not have at least 10 members as per the requirement. Whereas, according to Usha, 21 out of 31 members were present in Harish Shetty’s group.

Double dealing with sports federations

In this letter, along with the issue of golf, PT Usha also brought forward the issue of other sports associations. Usha has written that the officials of the Sports Ministry are double-dealing with many sports associations, such as the Indian Wrestling Association, reducing its autonomy (and this goes against the charter of the IOC).

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He also wrote that the Sports Ministry has shown prompt speed in recognizing the IGU elections whereas the Indian Wrestling Association elections were held in December 2023, under the direction of UWW i.e. International Wrestling Federation, yet there is a delay in getting their recognition. .

Flying angel Usha has requested the ministry to withdraw the letter of recognition of Brijendra Singh. He also cited the 2011 National Sports Code for the ministry to do so and wrote, “Selective adoption of the Sports Code undermines the aspect of sports governance and transparency.”