Shadow over India’s Olympic return as 2 pull out

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Kulbir Kaur [1]

With the International Olympic Committee’s change of stance, Indian Olympic Association acting head V.K. Malhotra and IOC member in India Randhir Singh on Thursday pulled out of the crucial meet with the IOC in Lausanne on May 15.
The sudden pullout by these two has put in doubt the fate of the all-important conclave that is aimed at finding a way for India’s return to the Olympic fold. The duo’s boycott decision came a day after the IOC included Hockey India secretary-general Narinder Batra and the Jharkhand Olympic Association’s R.K. Anand in the IOA team, in addition to the list of four submitted earlier.
The IOA delegation will now have six members while the sports ministry will be represented by minister of state Jitendra Singh, secretary Pradeep Kumar Deb, OSD to minister Anil Kumar Singh, India's first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and Olympian sailor Malav Shroff. Mr Malhotra, in a missive to IOC president Jacques Rogge, said he was withdrawing himself as the IOC was interacting with officials of the suspended IOA.
“As the IOC has changed the script for the Lausanne meeting, I want to inform you I will not be attending the meeting, and also hereby withdraw the letter I sent you on May 3, 2013 naming my delegation,” wrote Mr Malhotra.