# Bhupathi, Sania file for AITA polls, Paes out of race 2026-10-25T14:11:48+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets (4 source reports) Indian tennis greats Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza have filed nominations for the All India Tennis Association Sports Person of Outstanding Merit elections, while Leander Paes surprisingly did not file his nomination for the 7 November polls. Paes’s absence from the list means he cannot run for AITA Presidency, as he needed to win the SOM election to become eligible. He can still take part in the 27 November AITA polls as a Bengal representative but cannot contest for a national post under the National Sports Governance Act and Rules, since he has not completed a term as an office bearer in a state association. Eight former players have filed nominations. Besides Bhupathi and Mirza, the candidates include Ankita Bhambri, Davis Cup coach Ashutosh Singh, Gaurav Natekar, Janaki Krishnamoorthy, Shalini Thakur Chawla and Billie Jean King Cup captain Vishal Uppal. The Executive Committee list has five nominees: Bhupathi, Mirza, Bhambri, Janaki and Uppal. The amended AITA Constitution provides for four SOM representatives on the General Body (two men and two women) and two on the 15-member Executive Committee (one man and one woman). ## Indian Opinion Analysis All three outlets carry identical PTI copy, making this uniform straight news coverage. No outlet frames the nominations or Paes’s absence differently. The story is a factual rundown of the AITA election process: who filed, who did not, and the eligibility rule that kept Paes out. The shared emphasis falls on the procedural detail, the SOM framework under the new sports governance rules, rather than on any player’s campaign or criticism of the system. With no variation in framing, the article is a neutral report of the nomination deadline. The next concrete date is the 7 November SOM polls, which will decide the SOM representatives on the AITA General Body and Executive Committee. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - Syndicated copy - dtnext.in Straight PTI wire copy, no slant. - timesnownews.com Straight PTI wire copy, no slant. - rediff.com (neutral report) Straight PTI wire copy, no slant. This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: AITA, All India Tennis Association, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bhupathi-sania-file-for-aita-polls-paes-out-of-race/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bhupathi-sania-file-for-aita-polls-paes-out-of-race/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/