Elections for governing council of Constitution Club under way

New Delhi: As the contentious Monsoon Session of Parliament unfolds, behind the scenes, another form of contest is taking shape – one that has only Parliamentarians as the electorate. Elections for the governing council of the Constitution Club are under way. And if sources are to be believed, the internal politics of the ruling party has somewhat spilled on to the current elections.

Standing for the key post of Secretary (Administration) are two BJP MPs – former union ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Sanjiv Balyan. Sources in the BJP claim that while one of the two has the blessings of the top brass, the other has the absolute support of a regional strongman of the party, who does not necessarily see eye to eye with the party command on all matters.

The tony Club, situated a stone’s throw from the Parliament, was formed in the 1940s for Parliamentarians as well as former MPs. It boasts of swanky conference rooms as well as coffee clubs, including the latest addition – an outdoor cafe – creating a fair amount of buzz. For Parliamentarians, there is a billiards room, a gym, an unisex salon, a swimming pool, as well as facilities for badminton. There are also lounges for MPs.

The election process had started on May 30 when electoral rolls were finalised, and the last date of withdrawal of candidature was July 10. Polls will be held across postal ballot papers, too, and the last date for receiving ballot votes are August 11. Polling will be held on August 12, and results will be declared on the same day. Campaigning for the hotly-contested elections has spilled into the Parliament premises with the phone lines being worked up.

Rudy, who has been a long-term member of the governing council, has widespread support and his panel has Congress leader Deepender Hooda as well as four other BJP MPs, alongside RSP MP N K Premachandran. Balyan, sources suggest, has the support of fiery BJP MP Nishikat Dubey as well as other BJP MPs.

“Rudy has a lot of support since he has done a lot of work to make this a club with world class facilities. This idea that Balyan has the support of the top brass is suspicious because if they deem so, there would have been no contest at all for the post,” a contestant said.

Elections are typically held for key posts – Secretary (Administration), Secretary (Sports), Secretary (Culture) and Treasurer and 11 posts of Executive Members. Congress MP Rajiv Shukla has won the post of Secretary (Sports) uncontested after BJP Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Kumar Varma withdrew his candidature. Similarly, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva won the Secretary (Culture) post after former BJP MP Pradeep Gandhi withdrew his candidature.

The post of the treasurer, too, saw no contest after former TRS MP AP Jithender Reddy withdrew his candidature, leaving DMK MP P Wilson to win it uncontested. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is the outgoing treasurer.

Standing elections for the 11 executive members are 14 MPs including former BJP RS MP Naresh Agarwal, former BJP LS MP Pradeep Gandhi, former Congress LS MP Jasbir Singh Gill, BJP LS MP Naveen Jindal, former Congress MP Aslam Sher Khan, TDP LS MP Krishna Prasad Tenetti, BJP RS MP Pradip Kumar Varma, Samajwadi Party LS MP Akshay Yadav, TMC LS MP Prasun Banerjee, former Shiv Sena LS MP Shrirang Appa Barne, former BJD LS MP Kalikesh Singh Deo, besides Hooda and Premachandran as well as former MP Anoop Singh.