Chandigarh Golf Club goes to the polls on Jan 30

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 29

Annual general elections of Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) will be held on January 30 next year. The club will witness voting after 2018.

Code of conduct has already been imposed under Rule 51 (D) of the club. The elections are conducted to choose one president and 11 executive members. The rest of the office-bearers are nominated by the president later.

Chandigarh Tribune had reported the development earlier this month. This year, it is believed to be a triangular contest, a first in the history of the club. As per the circular, the elections for the post of president and the managing committee will be held on January 30. Brig JS Phoolka has been appointed as the returning officer for the elections.

Filing of nominations will be held from January 4 to January 8 till 5 pm. Nominations will be scrutinised on January 9, while withdrawals will be allowed till January 11, 5 pm. The final list will be displayed on the same day. The voting will be held on January 30 from 11.30 am to 4.30 pm and the counting of votes will be held on January 31 from 9 am. CGC, one of the most reputed clubs of Chandigarh, has not witnessed voting since 2018, as the presidents were chosen unanimously.

As many as 1,800 members have the voting right to choose new office-bearers of the club. As per the previous trends, 900 to 1,000 members turn up to cast their vote. Before the pandemic, the annual elections were held in April. However, later the House decided to conduct elections on the last Sunday of January every year.

“A notification in this regard has been already issued to the CGC members. The same has been issued in the public domain. The elections will be held following all Covid-related guidelines. The number of contestants fighting for the top post and executive committee will be released on January 9,” said Dr GS Kochhar, vice-president and chairman (media and publicity), CGC.

Triangular contest on cards

It will be perhaps for the first time that the club would end up witnessing a triangular contest for the top post. Sources claimed that contesting groups were already canvassing for getting voters’ attention through social media and one-to-one interactions. There are high chances of three groups contesting this year’s elections.

918 votes were polled in 2018

As per Rule 51(D), canvassing from house to house, hosting parties, entertainment and going for publicity through any media, pamphlets or handouts to woo the voters is banned. The club had last held elections in April 2018 and a total of 918 votes were polled. The following year, Sandeep Singh Sandhu was unanimously elected for the next term and, due to the Covid pandemic, he continued on the same post for 2020. Thereafter, present president Ravibir Singh Grewal was chosen unanimously to the top post in January 2021.

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