India’s Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal has announced his candidature for AITA President, in a press release issued on DLTA letterhead on August 31. He continues to hold six positions across Indian tennis, volleyball, and Olympic sport administration:
- Davis Cup Captain
- DLTA President
- AITA Vice President
- IOA Executive Committee Member
- Volleyball Steering Committee Chairman
- Chef de Mission, Commonwealth Games
“At 55, when many summers have passed, my heart still beats for Indian tennis,” Rajpal wrote, describing the decision as the product of “a lot of introspection and interactions with well-wishers in the tennis fraternity.”
The Pitch
Rajpal’s platform, as laid out in the release, rests on three commitments: a “player-centric approach and policies,” “good governance,” and transparency “above all.” A fuller vision document, he says, will follow in due course.
He’s leaning on his track record to make the case. As non-playing Davis Cup captain, Rajpal has overseen a run that’s taken India to the second round of the 2026 World Group qualifiers, with a tie against South Korea this September for a place among the final eight nations. As Volleyball Steering Committee Chairman, he points to a recent bronze at the Asian Volleyball Championships. As Chef de Mission at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, he coordinated logistics for India’s elite able-bodied and para athletes.
The Six-Roles Question, Again
Rajpal’s workload has come under scrutiny before. Weeks ahead of this announcement, Indian Tennis Daily highlighted concerns raised by former Davis Cup player Purav Raja over exactly this list of six concurrent positions. “How can he do full justice to Indian tennis?” Raja asked at the time.
A presidency win likely not replace any of Rajpal’s existing roles — it would add to them, putting him at the head of the national federation, the capital’s state association, the Davis Cup program, a national volleyball body, and an Olympic committee seat simultaneously. The press release frames his multiple portfolios as the experience qualifying him for the role, rather than addressing the overlap directly.
The Backdrop: Court-Ordered Elections
These elections are happening on a court-set timeline. The Delhi High Court has directed AITA to complete constitutional amendments and hold fresh Executive Committee elections by September 30, 2026, following a legal battle brought by former players Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja over the federation’s failure to align its constitution with national sports governance norms on age and tenure limits.
Retired Chief Justice Gita Mittal was appointed Administrator to oversee the process, a step AITA itself challenged as “impermissible interference” before a larger bench upheld the broad framework. The International Tennis Federation has separately indicated it could review AITA’s membership status if the court-supervised process extends beyond its stipulated timelines.
What’s Next
With Rajpal now a declared candidate, attention turns to whether other prominent names enter the race, and how his existing workload factors into the campaign, as nominations close ahead of the September 30 deadline. Indian Tennis Daily will continue tracking developments as AITA moves through its court-supervised election process.
This is a developing story. Indian Tennis Daily will update this article as more candidates and details emerge.