Brawl breaks out at Foreign Correspondents’ Club in New Delhi, elections postponed

A brawl broke out at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) in New Delhi on Friday night, ahead of the club’s annual general meeting and elections. The fight involved two candidates, Munish Gupta and Pankaj Yadav, with Gupta alleging that Yadav obstructed, abused, and slapped him, threatening dire consequences if he returned to the club.

DCP Devesh Kumar Mahla stated that the police received a PCR call around 11 pm at the Tilak Marg police station, and they responded promptly. Upon investigation, Gupta was taken to a hospital for medical examination, and an FIR was registered against Yadav under Sections 115(2), 126(2), and 351(2) of the IPC.

The police have begun probing the matter, and Yadav has been confronted and interrogated. The FCC president, S Venkat Narayan, announced that the elections have been postponed owing to the “ugly and unsavoury incident” involving two candidates for the office-bearers’ posts.

“In the wake of this incident, we have received suggestions from many members that the atmosphere is not peaceful and conducive to holding the scheduled meeting and elections today. Therefore, they are hereby postponed for some time to ensure they are conducted in a free, fair, and peaceful atmosphere,” the statement read.

The new date for the elections will be announced shortly.