Sangeeta elected Press Club of India’s first woman president

The Press Club of India (PCI) on Sunday elected Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty as its first woman President, marking a milestone in the club’s journey toward gender equality and inclusive leadership. Pisharoty’s team swept all office-bearers and managing committee positions, scoring an emphatic 21-0 in the elections held on December 13.

The counting was done on Sunday. Chief election commissioner MMC Sharma and his team announced the result at the PCI lawns in the evening to a full house of journalists.

Pisharoty secured 1,019 votes while her rivals Atul Mishra and Arun Sharma got 129 and 89 votes, respectively. For Secretary General’s post, Afzal Imam bagged 948 votes, comfortably defeating Gyan Prakash (290 votes).

Jatin Gandhi took home the post of Vice-President, polling 1,029 votes against second-placed Prahlad Singh Rajput’s 900 votes.

Aditi Rajput (Treasurer) and PR Sunil (Joint Secretary) were elected unopposed.

In the elections for the 16-member managing committee, Niraj Kumar topped with 932 votes, followed by Abhishek Kumar Singh (911), Jahanvi Sen (903), Ashok Kaushik (892), Kallol Bhattacharjee (882), Praveen Jain (878), Agraj Pratap Singh (865), Manoj Sharma (861), Nyanima Basu (851), PB Suresh (838), VP Pandey (833), Prem Bahukhandi (831), Sneha Bhura (829), Javed Akhtar (823), Rezaul Hasan Laskar (781) and Sunil Kumar (780).

“The results reflect the confidence of the PCI members in our panel’s vision and long-standing commitment to upholding the values of free, fair and responsible journalism,” Pisharoty said after the results were announced.

Outgoing President Gautam Lahiri expressed gratitude to PCI members for their trust and support. He asserted that the new team will continue to make the club more inclusive, responsive and relevant to the evolving challenges faced by journalists.