Chennai: Five people have been declared unopposed for various posts, including that of president and secretary, by the returning officer for the All-India Chess Federation (AICF) elections.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Fakkir Mohammed Ibrahim Kalifulla declared Ajay Patel as president, Bharat Singh Chauhan as secretary and three others for various posts for the period 2020-2023.
Naresh Sharma was on Tuesday declared treasurer, M Arun Singh was named joint secretary and Vipnesh Bharadwaj emerged as the vice-president. The AICF has been split into two camps – one headed by P R Venketrama Raja, the former president and one led by Chauhan. Those elected belong to the Chauhan faction.
In his three-page order, Kalifulla said the proposed election scheduled on 23 February in Hyderabad cannot take place. ‘As the election process has been concluded, all original relevant files will be forwarded to the Registry of the High Court, Madras on 12 February,’ he said. However, the opposing camp still remained hopeful. Sources in the Raja camp said the final outcome of the election will be decided by the Madras High Court.