Amit Shah, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge vote in keenly-contested Constitution Club election

Incumbent Secretary (Administration) Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a fifth-term Lok Sabha MP, is facing a spirited challenge to his nearly 25 years at the helm from fellow BJP leader Sanjeev Balyan, a two-term former Lok Sabha MP.

New Delhi: The elections for the Constitution Club, a recreational facility for Parliamentarians, saw a highwire wrestle on Tuesday. Polls for the Club took place for seven posts, but it was the position of Secretary Administration that saw drama.

Pitted against each other are BJP MPs Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Sanjeev Balyan, with battle lines drawn across parties. 

Counting for the polls went on late into the night, and till the time of publishing this copy, Rudy was leading by a relatively thin margin of 28 votes.

Over 670 votes were cast, as per sources, marking the highest turnout since the Club began. Till Round 13 of counting, Rudy had won 186 votes, while Balyan managed 158.

Among those that cast their votes were Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and BJP president J P Nadda. Union ministers Kiren Rijiju, Piyush Goyal, too, voted. The Club has over 1200 members.

As the fight is between two BJP politicians, the party’s internal schisms spilled over into the elections. Rudy, who has been at the helm of the Club for 25 years, has been credited with modernising it and giving members facilities like a gym, pool, salon, lounges etc. 

On the other hand, Balyan, who has a rustic appeal, told reporters in Parliament on Monday that the Club should belong to Parliamentarians and not others. He said that one of his key pitches was to keep the space to MPs alone and keep babus and officers away from the Club. "Whatever the results, the dignity of Constitution Club remains intact. It was formed for us to rise above party lines,” Balyan told ANI during polling.

Rudy, a commercial pilot, is said to have the support of Congress leader Deepender Hooda, and his panel has RSP MP NK Premachandran, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, besides Hooda. There is also the speculation that apart from support by old-timers and Opposition MPs, Rudy has the support of the UP CM, to whom he is considered close. 

Balyan, who has been actively supported by vocal BJP MP Nishikant Dubey as well as CM Ramesh, who have been carrying out hectic lobbying for him along the corridors of Parliament during the Monsoon Session, is said to have the home minister’s approval, who sees him as a “fighter”, as per BJP leaders.