HYDERABAD: Elections in the 127-year-old Hyderabad Gymkhana -- slated for Saturday (Feb 24) — have become evenly poised in a triangular contest for main posts.

Contesting sides — mostly panels — are spending heavily in election extravaganza in the shape of hi-teas and dinners. These contests have also seen old friends taking on each other to grab coveted positions of the colonial-era gymkhana.

All three groups are lavishly hosting members at different banquets by organising gatherings and approaching bulk voters’ pockets like Ismaili, Memon, Diplai Memon and other communities, as well as trade bodies like the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), Kotri Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) etc.

The membership list of the gymkhana continues to grow considerably. According to some estimates, there are over 8,000 members on the roll now but the election commission is said to have declared new members ineligible to cast their votes.

With last year’s entry of Tariq Bajari, elder brother of Saleem Bajari — a trusted friend of former Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah — into the gymkhana’s politics, elections are again going to be a hotly contested affair.

Quite a few members confided in Dawn that voters were being approached over phone by Karachi-based government officers campaigning for a particular panel.

Outgoing secretary Tariq Bajari with Agha Taj as president had offered membership to over 1,000 persons. Senior members like Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi and Faheem Ursani (also a member of the previous managing committee), allege that “the prescribed procedure for awarding membership had not been followed”.

Tariq is attempting to retain his slot and facing Junejo Panel-backed Shahid Pervez Memon and Progressive Panel head Dr Hadi Jatoi (brother-in-law of a former Sindh CM Liaquat Jatoi.

In last polls held in November 2022, the post of ‘treasurer’ and eight out of nine member managing committee (MMC) seats had gone to the panel led by (late) Javed Junejo panel despite political pressure from the then provincial government.

In the recent history, late Javed Junejo’s name had become synonymous with the gymkhana. He remained connected with the club from 1997 till his death on Dec 18, 2018.

Traditionally, it has been Javed Junejo versus Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi (a former Sindh DG health) electoral bouts (under different titles) with Junejo winning consistently.

Jatoi, a hard nut to crack, was also elected as secretary and president with Junejo Panel grabbing other slots. But for veteran members, Bajari is a new phenomenon who is staking his claims in the gymkhana after having been first elected as MMC and then secretary.

For presidential slot, outgoing president Dr Agha Taj (Jatoi’s former close friend) is up against Junejo Panel’s Farhat Kamal and Progressive Panel’s Dr Shams Shaikh, a former Junejo diehard.

In the last polls, veteran member Shams Shaikh got upset for being ignored by the group for the post, thus he opted for contesting as an independent candidate. Junejo’s Sajid Bhutto lost by 12 votes to Dr Agha Taj as Shams got 300 votes to become ‘vote spoiler’.

For treasurer’s post, Progressive Panel’s Asif Memon, late Javed’s son Asad Junejo and Mushtaq Memon are in the fray now.

“I got the gymkhana’s constitution drafted in 2008 and had a clause included in it of ‘30kms radius of Hyderabad’ to work as mandatory provision for becoming gymkhana’s member,” Jatoi said.

“But, now a floodgate of membership has been opened for every Tom, Dick and Harry sans complying with membership awarding criteria,” he added.

Ursani subscribed to his view as well. “Actually people of Hyderabad don’t own the gymkhana; we have lately witnessed a different club,” he said.

Ursani was alluding to the April 2022 incident – first time in the club’s history -- in which some intruders had assaulted MMC members in its main office.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2024