NRAI polls could see surprises
New Delhi: Winds of change seem to blowing in the National Rifle Association of India. With elections to the apex body due in September, there is more interest this time after the disastrous performance of the shooters in the Tokyo Olympics.
India flopped in Tokyo, unable to win a single medal. This was after drawing a blank in the Rio Olympics in
2016.
This time, Shyam Singh Yadav, a sitting Member of Parliament from the Jaunpur constituency is throwing his hat into the ring. Yadav won his seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. He has been a keen lover of shooting and was at one time even coach of Athens Olympics silver medallist RVS Rathore.
A former UP administrative service officer, Yadav said he has decided to take the plunge because of the sport's falling standard.
"The performance in the Tokyo Olympics was very painful to watch. As a lover of the sport, for India not to win a single medal twice at the Olympics is disheartening. Our last medal in shooting came in the 2012 Olympics, and that is a long time," Yadav told Millennium Post.
Despite his busy schedule as a sitting MP, Shyam Singh Yadav says he wants to contribute to the sport.
"It was creditable that 15 shooters from India made the grade for the Tokyo Olympics. That means we have talent. What went wrong has to be found out through a proper analysis. To my mind, there is no point blaming the shooters. There was a long camp in Croatia and after that if the shooters have not done well, it needs to be ascertained," he said.
Yadav has a lot of administrative experience in the UP government in the past. However, he is very sceptical why the NRAI election are going to be held in Mohali next month.
"The NRAI headquarters is in New Delhi, I see no logic why the elections should be held in Punjab, just because the current president (Raninder Singh) hails from that state. I will definitely fight the elections, irrespective of who is going to contest. I have the backing of well-wishers and former shooters," added Yadav.
For the record, Raninder Singh, son of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, has completed three terms as president.
As per the Sports Code, he needs to take a cooling off break for four years.
What is very surprising is the NRAI, which used to be a well-governed National Sports Federation, messed up with the preparations for the Olympics. Egos of coaches, lack of discipline at the national camp held in Zagreb, Croatia are reasons why the Indian shooters did not do well.
Last week, 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal winner in air rifle Abhinav Bindra had told Millennium Post how there was no proper Plan A or B for the shooters. The end result was the marksmen were confused and coaches started the blame game to save their own skin.
All this should have been taken up by the NRAI on priority basis.
"We can never undermine the role of foreign coaches. It is very shocking what happened in Tokyo," said Yadav. He knows these elections will be fought hard but he is not running away from the challenge.
