Zia wins Lahore Gymkhana election

LAHORE:

Ziaur Rehman has been elected the chairman of Lahore Gymkhana’s Committee of Management (CoM). Lahore Gymkhana’s annual election for its CoM was held on Saturday. Out of a total of 4,100 permanent members, 2,294 cast their votes.

The contest was once again between traders and bureaucrats. The businessmen had won last year’s election. Some voters, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some senior bureaucrats had asked colleagues posted across the country to vote out the business community from club management.

Mian Misbahur Rehman, the Arain incumbent head, was leading one of the panels, while Ziaur Rehman, a Rajput, was leading the other. Voting began at 9am and ended at 5pm, with a one-hour interval at noon. Eight members of Ziaur Rehman’s panel took office, while four of Misbahur Rehman’s panel claimed victory.

While during previous years, club employees had worked at polling stations, this year, Ferguson, an accountancy company, was contracted to make arrangements, from balloting and vote counting to announcement of results.

Most voters had parked the vehicles at the roadsides as the club’s parking lot was filled early.

The candidates and their supporters lined the way from the parking lot to the polling areas to woo the voters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2012.