Hockey India chief Narinder Batra insists efforts to oust IOA president Ramachandran will continue

Hockey India president Narinder Batra will renew his efforts to unseat N. Ramachandran, whose position as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president came under threat after a majority of National Sports Federations and State Olympic Associations sought a no-confidence motion against the Tamil Nadu strongman.

Batra had claimed that more than 50 per cent of IOA members wanted a special general meeting to bring a no-confidence motion against Ramachandran. But soon the efforts seemed to fizzle out when the IOA chief slapped a Rs 10 crore defamation notice on Batra.

But the Hockey India chief insists that the matter is not over and will restart the process of calling the SGM in the middle of this month. A leaked conversation between Batra and IOA associate joint secretary I.D. Nanavati has also added fuel to the fire.

The four-minute-50-second audio clip purportedly has Nanavati saying that he heard Ramachandran was ready to pay Rs 1 crore for support in his bid to become IOA president. The same was allegedly passed on to Batra ahead of the IOA elections in 2014.

"I had heard that Ramachandran was offering Rs 1crore to anyone who supports his candidature as IOA president. I had conveyed it to you and I was not canvassing for Ramachandran or for anyone during that time. I just passed on the message that I had," Nanavati is said to have told Batra.

The Hockey India president, meanwhile, insists he led the campaign against Ramachandran as people in the IOA are unhappy with his manner of functioning.

"The matter has not died down and the no-confidence motion is still very much on. I will make sure the matter reaches a logical conclusion," said Batra.

He says the charges of bribery against Ramachandran are very serious and he will ensure that the ethics commission takes note.

"It's not just the issue of a no-confidence motion, but of ethics as well. The case is against him and as president of the IOA, he ensured that the case does not reach the ethics commission. But I will make sure that it does and if he continues to obstruct, I will take the matter to a court of law or the IOC ethics commission," Batra added.

Batra said he will be out of the country for another week or so.

"I was the one who took the lead against Ramachandran and everyone expects me to continue to do that. I had been a bit busy lately. I will be back in India by around August 15 and will continue my fight against Ramachandran," he warned.

A senior IOA functionary, however, said it was up to Batra to decide how he wants to take the issue forward because the matter, many think, is as good as over.