Time has come to take Indian shooting to next level, says NRAI President Raninder Singh

Re-elected President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), Raninder Singh on Saturday said a lot has been achieved for Indian shooting and the time has now come to take it to another level.

After the elections, Raninder Singh said, "I am honoured and humbled that the members have reposed faith in my leadership. Together we have achieved a lot for Indian shooting and the time has now come to take it to another level."

He further added, "This election was not about the chair but about its basic capability to be autonomous, yet at the same time not be violative of a National Sports Code we genuinely welcome and voluntarily follow. Indeed, the strength the Code provides us, has and will continue to support us in presenting clarity and strength to discharge our duty to the sport and its athletes. But more importantly, not allow shadowy mentors of dubious challengers to politicise."

Raninder Singh was re-elected as the President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) - the governing body for the sport of Shooting in India, in the General Body Elections of the NRAI held on Saturday within the premises of Punjab Cricket Association in Mohali.

The General Body Election of the NRAI had representation from 59 of its members of whom 56 voted in favour of the re-election of Raninder Singh while three votes were cast in favour of his opponent Shyam Singh Yadav.

Kanwar Sultan Singh, Randeep Mann and Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo were also elected unopposed on the day as the Secretary-General, Treasurer and senior Vice President of the NRAI, respectively.

Speaking after the declaration of the election results, Secretary General Kanwar Sultan Singh said, "I am thankful to the members of the NRAI General Body for entrusting me with the responsibility of carrying forward the federation's vision of taking the sport shooting to new horizons. Our next goal is to analyse the unexpected Tokyo 2020 performances and learn from them in order to create a roadmap for Paris 2024."

A total of eight vice-presidents were elected which included: Ajay H Patel; Amit Sanghi; Ashok J Pandit; Ashok Mittal; John Kharshiing; Putul Kumari; Sushma Singh and Verinder Kumar Dhall.

Pawan Kumar J. Singh and Sheila Kanungo were elected unopposed as the Joint Secretary Generals. For the post of honorary Secretary G Susheel; Ishwar Rohal; Kumar Tripurari Singh; Meghasham Shripad Bhangle; Moirangthem R Singh and R Ravikrishnan were also elected unopposed.

A total of 16 governing body members were also elected.

The elections were held under the aegis of Returning Officer (RO) Justice (retd) Mehtab Singh Gill as well as Additional Returning Officer Justice (retd) Inderjeet Singh Walia. Chander Mukhi Sharma, the Secretary-General of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) was present as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) observer while Adille J Sumariwalla, President, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) was present as the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) observer. Former World No.1, Olympian and Guanzhou Asian Games Gold Medallist Ronjan Sodhi was also a part of the election process as the Eminent Sportsperson Observer.

( With inputs from ANI )