'Ousted' Ajay's dynastic rule

New Delhi (IANS): Ajay Chautala, outgoing president of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), has pushed his son Dushyant into the running of the sport. Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Prabhat Chandra Chaturvedi has been nominated to succeed Chautala ahead of the elections scheduled March 17. The election of the office-bearers is now a mere formality with the nominated candidates set to be elected unopposed during TTFI's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lucknow. The last date for filing the nominations was March 3 while its verification was done by Returning Officer Utthan Kumar Bansal, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. Chautala, currently in jail for his role in the teachers' recruitment scam with father and former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash, will vacate the post after being 12 years in-charge. Earlier in the week, the sports ministry had written to TTFI for the removal of Chautala. TTFI had replied to the ministry's letter. "Irrespective of the fact that Chautala is jailed, he was not going to continue. We have amended our constitution in accordance with the Sports Code and he has served a maximum of three terms. So I don't know what the fuss is all about," a TTFI official told IANS. Chautala's ouster has ensured a promotion for Chaturvedi, currently one of the senior vice-presidents. This time, a lone name has been preferred for the senior vice-president's post, that of Dushyant. Dhanraj Choudhary has been nominated for another term as secretary general while businessman Mahinder Pal Singh is set to take over as the treasurer from being a vice-president.