Lt Col HS Chahal re-elected president of Golf Club

Tribune News Service

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, January 30

Lt Col HS Chahal (retd) retained the post of Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) president as he defeated his arch rival Major Rajinder Singh Virk (retd) in a neck-and-neck contest.

Chahal emerged victorious by 29 votes — the lowest victory margin in a decade. While Chahal polled 591 votes, his rival bagged 562. A total of three votes were declared invalid. On Sunday, as many as 1,156 members out of the 1,800 eligible voters had cast their ballot.

Last year, a total of 1,154 members had cast their vote and Chahal had defeated Virk by 99 votes. He had secured 505 votes, while Virk got 406.

“The members have reposed faith in me and entrusted us with the baton. We will continue to work towards club’s development. We will bring more facilities for members and focus on developing the sport. My team will create more opportunities at the greens. Our work speaks for itself. Our team worked to the best of its ability. We’ll make the coming year more interesting and fruitful,” said 69-year-old Chahal.

Speaking on the upcoming golf league, he said: “This year’s golf league will witness higher participation. We have learnt a lot from the last edition and will try to overcome the shortcomings. Like, the last year’s edition was held a bit late due to delayed polls. This year, the polls were held on time and the event can be held in the coming months. This will allow members who do not wish to participate to continue playing golf without disturbance.”

“Another priority will be repair of the swimming pool, as there has been seepage for years. We have decided to repair the pool and the budget was passed at yesterday’s annual general meeting. The repairs will begin soon,” added Chahal.

The 11 members elected to the executive are: Amarinder Singh Aulakh, who polled 628 votes, Capt Mohan Bir Singh (628), Alamgir Singh Grewal (575), Dr Agnish Rajesh (565), Dr Satbir Singh (541), Col Karan Thandi (522), Brig TS Mundi (513), Gursimran Singh Sethi (512), Gursharan Singh Sandhu (505), Chitwan Mann (492) and Shona Singh (473).

On Sunday, politicians, professional golfers, veteran Army men and bureaucrats had turned up to cast their vote.

Lowest victory margin in decade

• Lt Col Chahal polled 591 votes against Maj Rajinder Singh Virk’s 562
• This is the lowest winning margin for the post in the past decade
• Last year, Chahal had defeated Virk by a margin of 99 votes

Will deliver on promises

We approached voters on the basis of our past performance, and this year too, we promise to deliver. We will work diligently and try to improve the club in all aspects. — Lt Col HS Chahal (retd), Chandigarh Golf Club president