Manoj Kumar's elder brother Rajesh Kumar, who also coached the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, today lashed out at the Kapil Dev-led selection committee for sticking to its stand of not considering the boxer for the Arjuna Awards and called it a "conspiracy".
"They are not following the criteria, this is a conspiracy to keep Manoj out of the list. I will file an RTI tomorrow," Rajesh said.
The controversial recommendation of boxer Jai Bhagwan and squash player Anaka Alankamony for the prestigious Arjuna Awards stands after the selection committee met again today and decided not to make any changes in the original 15-athlete list.
Jiji Thomson, Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general who was part of the Awards committee, said they discussed seven athletes in the review meeting but it was unanimously agreed that no changes were needed in the earlier shortlist.
"I met the Sports Minister (Sarbananda Sonowal) on August 13. I spoke to Sports Secretary and Joint Secretary. I also met the sports minister's personal secretary. On Saturday I had a meeting with (BJP MP) Anurag Thakur, gave him a presentation and expressed our grievances. They gave me hope but look the committee has again overlooked Manoj.
"On August 13, I also faxed it to the Prime Minister and I am hoping for something from him."
Choosing Bhagwan and ignoring the 2010 CWG gold medallist boxer Manoj Kumar had led to a controversy.
