India, November 12, 2026: IOA Electoral Officer says he had no power to act on alleged violations in SOM elections. The Hindu reported the development in a detailed account.

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Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - November 12, 2026 07:28 pm IST - New Delhi IOA President P. Usha | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, who conducted the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs) elections, has broken his silence on allegations of Model Code of Conduct violations by candidates during the controversy-marred exercise, saying that he was not authorised to punish any breach of rules but did respond to grievances by issuing advisories.

Srivastava, a former State Election Commissioner of Delhi, said he could not also have delayed the SOM elections after he got complaints on the night before the election day. "The thing is that, I have no power to take punitive action (against alleged rule violations). I cannot disqualify anybody, I cannot cancel elections.

I can only ask them (SOMs) to refrain from violating the Model Code of Conduct, which I did promptly," he told PTI . "Moreover, I would not have delayed the elections under the circumstances (complaints came just hours before elections). My job is to conduct free and fair elections.".

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