Kalikesh Singh Deo elected NRAI president

New Delhi: Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo was elected president of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) after he beat his rival VK Dhall 36-21 in the polls held at the Constitution Club of India here on Saturday.

Kalikesh, a former MP from Odisha, was taking care of the day-to-day functioning of the NRAI after the position fell vacant last year following the resignation of Raninder Singh as per the government's National Sports Code (NSC).

Last year, the Sports Ministry had issued a directive that heads of national sports federations (NSFs) cannot hold office for more than 12 years as per the NSC.

The ministry had pointed out in March 2023 that Raninder had completed 12 years as president — from Dec 29, 2010 to Dec 29, 2022 — and as per the code, he cannot continue any further.

After Raninder stepped down in April last year, the NRAI has been headed by its senior vice-president Kalikesh.

During Kalikesh's tenure as caretaker head of the federation, India won three bronze at the Paris Olympics, thus breaking the jinx of going without a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Kalikesh will remain president till 2025, when the next NRAI general body is scheduled.