Representative image (Getty Images) New Delhi: At a time when Indian table tennis is experiencing a surge in the international scene, the national federation is going through an administrative implosion. Barely a week after Indian rowers won 10 medals, including four golds, at the 2026 WTT Star Youth Contender and Feeder events in Doha, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Thursday suspended its general secretary and former India international Kamlesh Mehta during the annual general meeting (AGM) convened by federation president Meghna Ahlawat, who is leading a long-running power struggle within the sports body. Mehta, a two-time Olympian and one of the most prominent figures in Indian table tennis history, was removed from his post by a decision of the TTFI Executive Committee, which invoked Article 11(d) of the federation’s memorandum of association, citing “serious irregularities” in the performance of his official duties. In an email accessed by TOI, the executive committee said it was exercising its powers “in view of the serious irregularities attributed to you in the discharge of your official duties”. The federation added that these irregularities, prima facie, involve matters of governance and administrative fitness and require a detailed and independent investigation. As part of the decision, Maharashtra state association secretary Yatin Tipnis has been given the responsibility of general secretary during the AGM. However, Mehta strongly rejected the suspension, calling it “unjust and unconstitutional” and linking the action directly to the upcoming elections. “This (his suspension) is unfair and unconstitutional. Federation elections are scheduled later this year and all this is being done to gain complete control over TTFI. I will challenge it and take appropriate action,” the eight-time national champion told TOI. The suspension is the latest flashpoint in a bitter internal dispute between the president and secretary-general, who have been locked in a power struggle since their election in December 2022 under what was then described as a compromise arrangement. The move comes less than a year before federation elections due in December this year and is widely seen in the table tennis community as a bid by rival factions to consolidate control of the organisation. Sources told TOI that the President’s faction is seeking to secure both the post of President and General Secretary in the upcoming elections. According to one source, the suspension is likely to prevent Mehta from competing in December. Ahlawat is the wife of former Haryana deputy chief minister and Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala, who served as TTFI president from January 2017 to December 2022, a connection that has drawn scrutiny in administrative circles. The chain of events leading to Mehta’s suspension began earlier this month when he convened an extraordinary extraordinary general meeting (SGM) on January 17, attended by TTFI member units. According to the minutes of this meeting, the senior national championships were allotted to Indore and scheduled for March 15-21 along with the finalization of the age group tournaments. However, even before the SGM, Ahlawat, in a letter dated January 15, declared the meeting called by Mehta “unconstitutional and invalid”, setting the stage for a direct confrontation over authority within the federation. The president’s faction has since cited alleged delays in the course of national championships, the convening of the general assembly and non-announcement of the domestic calendar as reasons for Mehta’s dismissal. The executive committee also appointed a three-member inquiry committee comprising Chetan Gurung, Samar Jeet Singh and Sundara Varadhan to probe the alleged irregularities and submit its report within a stipulated time frame. The show-cause notice will be issued separately, the federation said, giving Mehta an opportunity to respond. MZe empowers the Executive Committee to declare a person persona non grata for a specified period pending an investigation if it is found that such a person may “threaten the harmony or affect the character, stability and interests of the Federation”. The provision further states that if such a person holds an office, he shall ipso facto cease to hold that office by a two-thirds majority decision. In a detailed reply sent to the members, Mehta also questioned the legality of the general assembly convened by the president, citing the federation’s constitution. “Article 19(B)(a) of the TTFI Constitution categorically mentions that it is the Secretary General who has the power to convene all meetings. The Constitution does not give the President the power to convene meetings,” Mehta wrote. “The President can only take matters into his own hands in circumstances where the Secretary-General does not respond to such requests. Although he has already asked three times, formally and with all parties involved identified, the President has not provided any evidence that he has formally asked me to call a general meeting, apart from the false claims that he has constitutionally convened the meeting.”
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