Anurag Thakur once again declared ineligible for BFI elections

New Delhi: Former Sports Minister Anurag Thakur was once again rendered ineligible to contest the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) elections, with his name omitted from the electoral college released on Wednesday for the August 21 polls.

The Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association (HPBA) had nominated Thakur and its President Rajesh Bhandari as its two representatives for the Annual General Meeting (AGM), where the key agenda is the election of new office-bearers for the 2025–2029 term.

However, the BFI interim committee, constituted by World Boxing in April to oversee the federation's daily affairs, issued a 66-member electoral college after scrutiny, excluding Thakur's name.

According to the interim committee chaired by Fairuz Mohamed, Thakur's nomination was found to be "in violation of Article 20 (iii) and (vii) of the Constitution of BFI approved by World Boxing."

As per the revised BFI Constitution, approved by World Boxing on May 18, Clause (iii) states that the nominee to attend the General Council Meeting "shall be an elected member of the State/UT member association during the election AGM duly notified to BFI and in presence of BFI observer."

Thakur is not an elected member of HPBA, and his nomination had previously been rejected on similar grounds ahead of the elections initially scheduled for March 28.

At the time, the disqualification was based on an office directive issued by then BFI President Ajay Singh. That provision is now part of the formally revised constitution.

Additionally, Clause (vii) disqualifies individuals who are "Government servants or holding a public office," and Thakur is a sitting Member of Parliament from Himachal Pradesh.

Similarly, the nomination of Delhi Amateur Boxing Association's Rohit Jainendra Jain was also rejected for violating Clause (iii) of the revised constitution.

Earlier this week, HPBA President Bhandari claimed that they had filed a fresh suit challenging the legality of the constitutional amendments made by the interim committee without the approval of an Executive Council.

The tenure of the previous BFI office-bearers ended on February 2. Elections were initially scheduled for March 28, but the process was stalled due to legal wrangling, including multiple appeals and counter-appeals.

World Boxing has set a deadline of August 31 for the elections to be completed.