The elections to the post of the Sports Secretary took place on the 19th of November, at SAC Amphi. Surakshi Soni, captain of the Boys’ Tennis team and Vishal Verma, captain of the Boys’ Basketball team contested for the post, with Surakshit securing the majority.  

The Sports Financial Committee (SFC), the outgoing Sports Council, and a member of the sports faculty supervise the elections every year. To be eligible for the post, a candidate should have participated in three editions of BOSM as part of a sports team and been a Captain/Joint Sports Secretary for one edition. The outgoing Sports Secretary calls for nominations towards the end of the odd semester. Candidates are given a deadline of about a week to file their nominations and submit their manifestoes, following which an “Amphi Debate” is held, where they are questioned about the feasibility of their manifesto points. The election takes place soon after; captains for the following semester of the 24 sports teams are eligible to vote.

‘Manifestos are often made with two perspectives in mind – the duty of a Sports Secretary towards BOSM and the sports culture on campus in general’, said Rajat Khandelwal, a senior member of the SFC. This year, highlights included a larger emphasis on the involvement Hostel Sports Representatives in the Sports Council, and the creation of an online portal to keep track of the sports inventory.

There is no formal campaigning period for the elections. ‘The strength of the electorate removes the need for a formal campaigning guideline. As a result, there have been instances in the past, where voters have failed to remain impartial due to personal biases’, says Rajat. Efforts to regulate campaigning in the past haven’t been very successful; Rajat is well aware of the situation, but is confident that nothing untoward took place this year.

Since sports facilities are meant for everyone on campus, one may wonder about the absence of the GBM in the election process. However, Rajat believes that the dynamics of the elections are completely different as compared to the Students’ Union Elections, and the involvement of the GBM would only complicate the procedure. ‘The GBM is empowered by the Sports Constitution to attend all Sports Council meets, and is allowed to raise questions during the Amphi Debate‘, he asserts. He also claims that the point has been taken up in the past, and although no progress has been made, he is willing to broach the matter with the Sports Council.

The Sports Secretarial Address

The Sports Secretarial Address, informally known as the Amphi Debate, took place on November 17th at 7 pm in the SAC Amphitheatre. The questioning panel comprised of the current CoSSAc and the SFC, with Jayshil Joshi, the Sports Secretary heading the panel. The new captains of all teams were in attendance, along with some of their team members. Some members of the GBM were present as well.

The debate kicked off with 10 minutes given to each candidate to introduce themselves and briefly describe their manifesto points. Surakshit started off by outlining his manifesto points – BITSAA funding, sports camps and increased participation of Hostel Sports Secretaries during BOSM. He displayed meticulous preparation, bringing along with him a list of alumni who might help fund the Sports Union. Vishal’s manifesto points included increased BITSian participation during BOSM, sports camps, and an increase of benefits to members of sports teams. For increased BITSian participation, Vishal suggested more professional shows, which didn’t go down well with the panel. It raised the following question – for a sports fest like BOSM, doesn’t an increase in the number of professional shows go against the essence of the fest? Vishal’s answers were unsatisfactory and the panel closed the debate soon after.

The question and answer round began after this, where both candidates exhibited unpreparedness. They were unable to name all the members of the Sports Union Council and the Sports Union, and did not know the expansion of ‘CoSSAc’. The captains were allowed to ask questions by writing them on a piece of paper and passing them to the CoSSAc. Most of the questions were directed to Vishal for his idea of professional shows.

The Amphi Debate ended at 10:30 pm, with a nearly empty Amphitheatre. With unprepared answers and lack of coherency, the debate was slow and uninspiring, with many people leaving midway through the debate.