One of the candidates in fray for The Sports Club of Gujarat elections — being held for six posts to its board — has sought removal of the non-vegetarian food items being served by one of the restaurants under the club. The elections will be held between September 25 and 28. Ahmedabad-based businessman Rajesh Pravin Brahmbhatt, who announced his candidature for the election to one of the six seats, at a press conference on Tuesday, said his priority was “to stop serving non-veg food in the club”. Brahmbhatt is contesting on the single-member Parivartan Panel. The other six candidates are from the other panel. The six seats are part of the 18-member elected board of the club, of which one-third retired this year in accordance with The Companies Act. Two of the posts are ex-officio held by Ahmedabad mayor and Ahmedabad Municipal commissioner. The club’s members include 9,000 voters including 7,000 from Ahmedabad and others from across India and other countries. However, club officials said that the average vote count has been approximately 1,500. Brahmbhatt, who claimed that the current administration had tried to “cajoled” him into pulling out of the race, said, “I stood my ground. I told them that I'm not interested in the elections… just remove the non-vegetarian food items from the club.” “I have also given an application to the club regarding the same,” said Brahmbhatt whose main target is one of three eateries located in the club. Brahmbhatt claimed that he sought ban on non-vegetarian food items “on the insistence of members”. He also provided a copy of the restaurant menu to all media persons on Tuesday. Chairman of the four-member Scrutiny Committee that conducts the voting, Sudhir Nanavati, told The Indian Express that the Sports Club will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 28. “Voting will take place in two forms, online and physical. While online voting will be held from September 25-28, physical voting will take place on September 29. Each eligible voter has to compulsorily vote for six candidates out of seven, one for each vacant post, otherwise the vote is considered invalid,” said Nanavati.
