It will be a classic case of bifurcation blues when Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association (APOA) takes up the issue of Rifle Association of Andhra Pradesh (RAAP), which is to be split into separate bodies for the new States of Telangana and AP. It is the process being adopted by the APOA that has come under fire.
In a written complaint to APOA, Y.V. Siva Kumar, the only International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) judge in all of A.P. and Telangana, claimed that no notice was given to members and also about the choice of the State they would like to choose.
“I can prove the elections did not take place and rather, the ‘selections’ were made by a handful of influential office-bearers in gross violations of rules,” he alleged.
Ironically, the “supposed” minutes of the AGM has a signature in the name of Siva Kumar, who insists that he has not attended any such meeting.
“I will not hesitate to initiate criminal action against those who indulged in this act. It is inexplicable that the national observer for the meeting was Amit Sanghi, himself a contender for the Telangana body’s presidentship,” countered Mr. Kumar, a former executive member.
He points out that even APOA observer J. Manohar Kumar did not sign on the minutes. Another glaring discrepancy was the name of Lok Sabha MP Gokaraju Gangaraju, missing despite being the president of Krishna district unit.
“This is the only body which doesn’t have a license to buy weapons and ammunition. All this is being done through a club floated in Ranga Reddy district, and there are serious allegations on its functioning,” he alleged.
However, when contacted, RAAP former secretary Raj Kumar denied all the charges.
“We went as per the rules book and all the allegations are baseless,” he claims.
Another gaffeRAAP has been in the news of late for all the wrong reasons. It was forced to change the name of the gold medallist in a recent State meet after the original winner complained (with all the necessary proof) that his scores were tampered with to facilitate another shooter!
