AICF splits vertically

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 1. Use of lung-power, arguments, walkout and more. The annual general body meeting of the All India Chess Federation (AICF), with the elections of the office-bearers as one of the items on its long agenda, truly reflected the ugly face of the otherwise brightest-looking sport in the country.

Sadly, by Saturday afternoon, there were two sets of AICF office- bearers, each claiming to be the `real' federation. Following this vertical split - a novelty of a different kind - chess will now become a talking point for all the wrong reasons.

Allegations and counter-allegations flew thick and fast even as certain short-comings in the AICF constitution came under scrutiny once the AGM came to an end in less than 15 minutes.

Mr. Dhruv Sawhney, the outgoing president of the AICF, and one of the candidates for the post of honorary secretary, Mr. Dhiraj Raghuvanshi, were engaged in unsavory arguments over the question of those eligible to attend the meeting and the appointment of the Returning Officer.

Mr. Sawhney, who later accused Mr. Raghuvanshi of making it impossible for him to continue, called for an adjournment and left the hall, followed by his supporters. Those backing Mr. Raghuvanshi went ahead with the appointment of a Returning Officer and held the elections.

For the record, Mr. R.K. Singh (president) and Mr. Dhiraj Raghuvanshi (secretary) were declared elected unopposed for the key posts in the elections supervised by the Returning Officer, Mr. S.P.S. Chauhan. Mr. Singh, who was elected in absentia, is away in London.

In addition, a treasurer, six vice-presidents and an equal number of joint secretaries were also elected following the casting of votes, including those by proxies, by 16 of the 33 affiliates, claimed one of the factions.

Even as these elections were on, 43 ``authorised signatories'' of the affiliated units of the federation, reaffirmed their faith in the leadership of Mr. Sawhney. Some of these alleged the presence of goons in the meeting hall and accused Mr. Raghuvanshi of ``hijacking'' the AGM.

Later, addressing mediapersons, Mr. Sawhney said, ``I was not allowed to start the meeting. As per the AICF Constitution, or for that matter in any AGM, it is necessary to have quorum. It is also mandatory to determine whether those present were eligible to attend the meeting. But I was not allowed to speak. Personally, I feel sad that such a disruption took place.''

Mr. Sawhney said he had, in fact, suggested that Mr. M.P. Ganesh, who was present as the Government Observer, be the Returning Officer but the latter declined.

The AICF secretary, Mr. P.T. Ummer Koya, chose not to air his opinion on the subject but stated, ``I stand by what my president has said.''

Mr. Sawhney, who opted not to seek re-election following a 12- year stint as the AICF president as he felt ``change, ever so often, is good,'' graciously acknowledged the shortcomings in the AICF Constitution.

``We have taken note of several complaints like the issue of appointment of the Returning Officer, dates for withdrawal and scrutiny of nominations etc. These issues will be re-addressed and the needful done in the next AGM and General Council Meeting. After all, there is no point in ducking these issues,'' was Mr. Sawhney's candid assurance.

Significantly, Mr. Sawhney made it clear that he was not in favour of taking any action against Mr. Raghuvanshi, who is also the president of the Delhi Chess Association.

In contrast to Mr. Sawhney's affable ways stood Mr. Raghuvanshi's defiant posture. On his part, Mr. Raghuvanshi said he had questioned the nature of ambiguity in the agenda and the supplementary agenda, for the meeting.

``As per the 16-point agenda dated August 3, there was no mention of the appointment of Returning Officer while the elections were listed as the penultimate item. A couple of days back, a supplementary agenda was released where the appointment of the Returning Officer was the first item. When I sought clarification on the subject, Mr. Sawhney said the supplementary agenda would follow the main agenda. My question was how could anyone take up the question of Returning Officer after the elections?''

Further, Mr. Raghuvanshi wanted to know why the list of voters was kept a secret when the last date for the defaulting units to pay their dues was August 17? ``How come Mr. Sawhney was waving the list of eligible voters from the dais when I, as a candidate, was kept in the dark regarding their names. Why was this list not made available to me? Does this not reflect the mala fide intentions of those in the AICF?''

Mr. Raghuvanshi, who seemed to have more questions than answers, alleged that the outgoing set of office-bearers did not want to face the elections and that was the main reason for their walk- out. As things stand, the moves of the two factions will be watched keenly in the coming days. Considering that this fracas has erupted on the eve of the Asian women's championship, in Chennai, all eyes will now be focussed on the southern metro.

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