Golf club goes to polls on Jan 29

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, December 25

As many as 1,800 registered members of the Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) will choose the 30th president of this prestigious club on January 29.

A little more than a month to go, the CGC will see polling to elect new office-bearers on the last Sunday of the January 2023.

“The process of conducting the annual general elections will start next week. As many as 1,800 members have voting rights. The election will be held following all protocols. As per the club rules, the process to conduct the elections, issuing of notification and releasing of scheduled usually start a month before the day of voting,” said Dr GS Kochhar, vice-president, CGC, and chairman, media and publicity, discipline and medical camps. He added that Brig JS Phoolka would be appointed as the returning officer for the upcoming elections. “Brig Phoolka has agreed for it. He had supervised many elections in the past,” said Kochhar.

The annual general election is held to choose president and 11 members of the executive committee of the club. Unlike last year, the top post of the club is likely to see two contenders this time. Last year, for the first time in the six-decade history of the CGC, three candidates raced for the top spot. The incumbent president, Lt Col HS Chahal (retd), had won the top post by a margin of 99 votes by defeating SPS Ghai and Major Rajinder Singh Virk.

Record turnout last year

Last year, as many as 1,154 members had cast their vote, which was the highest turnout in the history of the club elections. A total of 31 members had filed their papers for the 11 posts of executive committee member.

Due to the Covid pandemic, the last year’s elections were delayed by two months and were held in March. On an average, the CGC elections witnessed voting of around 900 to 1,100 members. In 2018, a total of 918 votes were cast and elections were not held in the following years due to the Covid outbreak. “Since, the elections are most likely to be contested by only two groups, the members’ turnout is expected to be somewhere around 1,000,” said a senior member of the club.

Lobbying begins

While the CGC management was yet to notify the election schedule, lobbying for the elections had already started, claimed some CGC members. “The entire month

will witness such activities as the contesting groups will leave no stone unturned to ensure maximum support,” said a member.