In the high-voltage election for the key post of Secretary (Administration) of the Constitution Club of India (CCI), senior BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudy again emerged as the winner, defeating his party colleague and ex-MP Sanjeev Balyan by about 100 votes.
While the voting for the high-profile polls took place Tuesday, its counting went on through the night, with Rudy emerging to inform media persons about his victory at 4 am Wednesday.
Generally considered a routine affair, the polls to the management of the CCI – a club of the MPs and ex-MPs in the heart of the national capital – were in the limelight this time, with the two BJP leaders, both former Union ministers, at its centre as they slugged it out for its most powerful post.
The CCI polls witnessed the who’s who of national politics descending on the club premises to cast their votes, with the list including several Union ministers, such as Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief J P Nadda, Piyush Goyal and Kiren Rijiju, top Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, and even a few governors such as Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla.
The number of the CCI’s eligible voters, who are either MPs or ex-MPs, was 1,295, and 707 votes were polled. Rudy secured 391 votes as against Balyan’s 291.
Rudy vs Balyan
The contest was keenly fought, but the MPs eventually decided to go with continuity instead of change, enabling the 63-year-old fifth-term Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Saran to continue his 25-year dominance in the CCI management.
In sharp contrast, this was the BJP’s 53-year-old Jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh Balyan’s debut in the CCI polls.
The Rudy camp said voters have given a thumbs up to the manner in which he “transformed” the club to make it a swanky place over the last couple of decades. It said there has been a “sea change from how the CCI was run earlier”, crediting “vast improvements” at the club to Rudy’s leadership.
However, those supporting the challenger Balyan said that Rudy’s stint had been so long that it needed to end. There were also complaints about bureaucrats rather than the MPs and ex-MPs frequenting the club and its prices being on the rise.
BJP vs Oppn
There has been a buzz in political circles that large sections of the MPs and ex-MPs of the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supported Rudy.
Balyan’s campaign was said to be mainly backed by the ruling BJP members such as Nishikant Dubey. A BJP section however supported the incumbent too.
Following the poll results, BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Godda Nishikant, in an X post in Hindi, said, “In the Constitution Club election, I was, and I am, with Sanjeev Balyan. This election is a historic one in Balyan’s life, showcasing his strength. The arrival of Congress president Kharge and Sonia Gandhi to vote in the club’s election is his victory,” hailing Balyan for “enhancing the dignity of the Constitution Club” and extending his best wishes to Rudy.
Balyan blames Oppn
Speaking to The Indian Express, Balyan blamed the Opposition camp for his defeat, saying “I wanted to restore the glory of the Constitution Club which has declined gradually. If you see the result, I got support from a lot of people. But the Opposition’s voters followed their party lines although it was not an election on party line.”
On being asked why did the INDIA bloc members support Rudy and not him, Balyan said, “They (Opposition) may have a strong friendship with him (Rudy) and enmity with me. But I also got support.”
Balyan also said: “He (Rudy) is very senior to me. Fifteen people from his (Rudy’s) panel were contesting collectively. However, I was alone. Naresh Agrawal, Akshay Yadav, Deepender Hooda, Rajiv Shukla, Naveen Jindal, were in his panel. I was alone and I had no panel. I alone fought against 15.”
On his part, Rudy, amid celebrations by his supporters, said that he got the support of parliamentarians cutting across party lines, including voters from the BJP, Congress, SP and TMC, who, he added, “endorsed the relentless efforts of his team over the last two decades”.
‘Constitution Club comes alive’
A former BJP MP agreed with Balyan that the best part of the election was that a largely “passive” club had come alive – and that many parliamentarians have woken up to its importance.
Elections are typically held for Secretary (Administration), Secretary (Sports), Secretary (Culture), Treasurer, and 11 posts of Executive Members in the CCI. Congress MP Rajiv Shukla earlier won the post of Secretary (Sports) unopposed. Similarly, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva won the Secretary (Culture) post and ex-Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MP A P Jithender Reddy bagged the Treasurer’s post uncontested.
At 507, Pradeep Gandhi secured the highest number of votes for the executive panel’s member, while Naveen Jindal secured 502 votes for it.
Deepender Hooda of the Congress, N K Premachandran of the RSP, Pradeep Kumar of the BJP, Jasveer Gill of the Congress, Akshay Yadav of the SP, Appa Rao Barne of the Shiv Sena, Prasun Banerjee of the TMC, and Kalikesh Singh Deo of the BJD were also elected to the executive committee.
Formed in the 1940s for parliamentarians, the club has conference rooms, coffee clubs, and an outdoor cafe. Apart from having lounges for them, it also has a billiards room, a gym, a unisex salon, and a swimming pool.
