TRS, TDP to rule Olympic panels

Hyderabad: The division of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association (APOA) may have taken a bit too long to get divided. As things stand, the Olympic panel will formally bifurcate on April 19 when elections will be held to Olympic Association, representing the residual Telangana Olympic Association (TOA) and Andhra Pradesh. Even before the respective panels go to polls, they have acquired political colour. According to pointers, the two panels will be spearheaded by the ruling parties in the two States.

If TRS Lok Sabha member A P Jithender Reddy is almost in the clear to be the President of the first TOA, the APOA will be in the control of Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The party heavyweight from the Upper House, CM Ramesh will be the president of APOA while J C Pavan Reddy (son of J C Diwakar Reddy) will be the Secretary. Both of them filed their nominations before the returning officer here on Monday, a day before they close on Tuesday.

In a spontaneous reaction, Ramesh, remarked, “I am a sportsman so I wish to boost every discipline in tune with the vision of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.” Meanwhile, Jithender Reddy remains hopeful of assuming office. “I am trying to evolve a consensus so that the office-bearers will be voted unopposed,” he told this correspondent. Incidentally, seasoned administrator K Jagadishwer Yadav will be his nominee for post of General Secretary, a position that he has held for several years to wholehearted appreciation.

Meanwhile, both States are facing crisis of a similar type-emergence of rival groups, which are not contesting the ensuing elections, but are floating an altogether parallel Associations! Despite a furore over the politicisation of sports, there is no denying the fact that political patronage remains essential for any association to survive and rake in the moolah and go on possible overseas jamborees to attend international events. This is despite the fact the coffers of the two panels are nothing to write about.

TOA: President: A P Jithender Reddy; Vice-Presidents: R Narayan Reddy, Dr. K Laxman, B K Haranath, G Ramakrishna, V Narsingam Reddy, B Vijay Kumar Yadav, P Prakash Raju; General Secretary: K Jagadishwer Yadav; Joint Secretaries: Y Dhankishan Bhandari, S Someshwar Rao, N Mahipal, R Narayan Reddy, G Ramakrishna, E Mukesh, P Malla Reddy, B Kailash Yadav;Treasurer: P Malla Reddy, S Someshwar Rao; EC Members: S Abbas R.Kirmani, P.Phani Raju, A.Someshwar, D.Satyanarayana, N.Mahipal, S.Surender Singh, E Mukesh, Benny Francis , M A Saleem, J Manohar Kumar, M Swamy Charan, G Janardhan Reddy, Mohd Azeez Khan, A Lingaiah , G Chander Rao, A Ravinder.

APOA: President: C M Ramesh; Vice-Presidents: T Harshavardhan Prasad, Cherukuri Satyanarayana, R D Prasad, S Sunhan Basha, A Murli Krishna, Macha Ramalinga Reddy, M Niranjan Reddy, Y D Rama Rao; General Secretary: J C Pavan Reddy, KP Rao;Joint Secretaries: B Shivaram, B Nagaraju, Macha Ramalinga Reddy, K N Babu, R V Ramana Murthy, R D Prasad, Venkat Namisetty, C Venkatesulu, Treasurer: T Harshavardhan Prasad, K P Rao; E C Members: R Vijay Kumar Raju, Ch ARK Varma, C Venkatesulu, A Murali Krishna, K N Babu, S Mallikarjuna Reddy, A Murali Krishna, P Mustafa, S Subhan Basha, N Mohan Mutyala Rao, S Koteswara Rao, A Mohan Venkatram, S Mallikarjuna Reddy, V Nani Rao, BSS Prasad Kumar, VV Rama Rao, M Subba Raju, Ch Satyanarayana B Sivaram, G Krishna Reddy, K Suguna Rao, D Nagaraju.