Anju Bobby George quits as president of Kerala Sports Council

Olympian Anju Bobby George on Wednesday quit the post of president of the Kerala Sports Council , furious at being humiliated by the state’s sports minister who’s accused her of corruption.

You can kill us, but (you) can’t defeat us…Sports is beyond purview of any party or politics,” said the athlete who in 2003, became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Athletics Championships.

Earlier this month, the star long jumper alleged that the state’s new sports minister, EP Jayarajan , accused her of being corrupt and said she belongs to the United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition, which was in power in Kerala until last month.

The former track athlete said she has been president of the Sports Council for a mere six months, and she urged that an investigation be conducted into the Council’s functioning over the last decade, and not just since she helmed it.

“I wish to point out that let us not just limit the probe to six months, instead we will look into the entire activities of the Council for the past one decade. This can also include the appointment of my brother. Let the probe be given to director of Vigilance Jacob Thomas,” the athlete said.

Bobby George was appointed president of the state’s sports council last year, by the erstwhile Oommen Chandy government. After the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government won the elections in May, Bobby George had gone to meet the new sports minister as a matter of courtesy. That’s when he humiliated her, she alleged.

After the meeting, the athlete said she had complained to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, but soon after, former Kerala Sports Council president T.P. Dasan also alleged that corruption was rife under Bobby George.

“We are not acting for any political party. Sports is our party. I am not a member of Congress, Communist (Party) or BJP,” she said on June 9, after a meeting with the minister.

“We thought he will ask us about the status of sports in Kerala. In the first meeting itself, the minister said ‘you all are elected members by the previous ministry. So you all are other party members… All transfers and appointments you are doing are illegal’,” the star athlete told PTI on June 9.

 

SOURCE: PTI