Controversy over Ronjan Sodhi's Khel Ratna recommendation

The recommendation of shooter Ronjan Sodhi for the prestigious Khel Ratna Award on Tuesday sparked off a controversy with some members of the selection panel raising questions about the process of his selectionu00a0 It is learnt that Sodhi39s name was not there when the majority of members decided to vote for the Khel Ratna awardee but brought back later for consideration Ronjan Sodhi A selection panel member told PTI that Commonwealth Games goldmedallist discus thrower Krishna Poonia and London Paralympics silver medallist H N Girisha were shortlisted for voting by 11 out of 12 selection panel members and Sodhi39s name was not considered initially He said the scenario changed after one member a former shooter came in late for the meeting and Girisha39s name was removed and there was voting between Sodhi and Poonia quotOut of the 12 members of selection panel excluding two SAI officials 10 were present when the meeting started Two members came late for the meetingrdquo the selection panel member said on condition of anonymity quot10 of us decided that there would be voting between Poonia and Girisha for Khel Ratna After that we started discussions on Arjuna Awards But after one member came in Sodhi was brought back in the frayquot he added It is learnt that Poonia was initially tipped for the recommendation as she had more support among the members till Sodhi39s name was brought back In the voting by raise of hands by members between her and Sondhi there was a tie and the support he got from SAI officials led to his recommendation according to the selection panel members Another member said that the two SAI representatives were earlier rooting for Girisha but later supported Sodhi The SAI officials however have no voting rights quotIt was very shameful politics being played in the recommendation of Khel Ratna and I had not imagined this Earlier the SAI officials were supporting Girisha when there was to be a voting between him and Pooniaquot the selection panel member said quotBut later after Sodhi was brought back the SAI people supported him In fact there was a tie between Poonia and Sodhi the SAI officials39 support tilted the balance in his favourquot he said quotSome members even suggested that both Poonia and Sondhi be recommended together as there was earlier instances also but it did not happenquot he added Another member of the panel claimed that it was an unanimous decision to recommend Sodhi for the award and there were no differences among members When contacted the chairman of the committee Ferreira did not comment on what transpired in the meeting Krishna Poonia A dejected Poonia said that she would make her representation to the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh tomorrow for the quotinjusticequot meted out to her quotWe will write to the Sports Minister tomorrow and meet him also if required Injustice has been done to me I am really disappointed with had happened in the selection panel meetingquot she said quotOtherwise I am more deserving also I am the first woman athlete from the country to have won an individual Commonwealth Games gold medal and I finished sixth in the Olympics alsoquot she added