One of the prestigious and premier institutes of the country, the Delhi Gymkhana Club is all set to elect its new president by the end of September. There are ample indications that the 100 years old institute with an elite clintele is going to witness a keen contest between Inspector General GS Uban, VSM, who retired as Brigadier from the Army, and Lt Gen I J Singh. Both have thrown their hats in the ring seeking to be elected as president of the club.
What may tilt the balance in favour of Uban is his distinguished career both in the Army and also in Cabinet Secretariat. That Uban was chosen to the Committee with the highest number of votes is another factor that weighs heavily in his favour, and also makes him the hot favourite and front runner for the post of president of the Gymkhana Club. What gives Uban an edge over his rival is his contribution to the club in capacity as chairman of Knowledge Club when he was instrumental in ensuring the presence of eminent guest speakers like Meira Kumar, Ram Jethmalani, Dalai Lama, US Ambassador Richard Verma and so on so forth. His creativity also made a mark when he performed superbly as Editor of the Club Magazine.
With all these factors leading to strengthening of his position in the elections, some sort of controversy was sought to be created around Uban. A series of emails targeting Uban was generated. In these emails, Uban has been accused of impersonation. The emails also targeted his credentials, with one of the members having gone to the extent of complaining to the Army chief Dalbir Singh.
What is doing the rounds in the Club circles is that Uban’s opponent IJ Singh has been behind the alleged vilification campaign against him. According to an information, a letter supposedly from the Army Headquarters being flaunted by IJ Singh and his supporters against Uban has allegedly turned out to be fraudulent. This has come to the embarrassment of the members of the prestigious club who are being forced to believe in the ‘false information’ spread against Uban. No doubt, a series of emails accusing Uban of impersonation left the members in a state of confusion and doubt, which might be affecting his poll prospects.
Lt Gen IJ Singh has a good academic record, but his past action does not seemingly go down well with the electors. says some Uban supporters. He is a little bit unknown face, according to them. According to an information, he stood for the presidentship a few years ago but suddenly withdrew at the last moment without assigning any reason, an action that does not impress members at all.
is said that the members are aghast at such turn of events and this will go to the advantage of Uban. Lt Gen IJ Singh’s service record is also in the minds of members who have the task of choosing someone who has the capability of protecting the ethos and traditional values of the elite club.
Members do recall the case of Lt PK Rath with which IJ Singh is associated. Singh was head of the court martial of Rath in the alleged Sukhna scam in 2011, which was allegedly conjured up to queer the line of succession by Gen VK Singh. Uban’s supporters refer to the court martial that held Gen Rath guilty, the Armed Forces Tribunal in a rare case of reversal of a court martial proceeding not only acquitted Rath but also imposed an exemplary cost of Rs one lakh on the army as compensation for loss of honour and name. As Gymkhana Club gears up for voting, members have question as to how an officer, who left the Indian army red-faced in this case and did his best to ruin the reputation of a brother officer, can be considered to lead an institution like this. Really, this question is significant as what is at stake in the election is the reputation of an elite club.
Source: Newsroompost.com
