The club, one of the most prestigious in the area, will elect its committee members for the next two years on November 12. But it is not without complications.
Members of Riverside Club in Mayur Vihar Phase I Extension will elect committee members for the next two years on November 12. The fight is expected to be a tough one, with opposing factions.
The election will be held for 15 posts, including that of president and the general secretary.
The present committee has been in power for the past 12 years.
Here’s how things got controversial.
The existing committee nominated as its presidential candidate CM Jain, a resident of Vardhman Apartments, after KK Mehra, its current president, stepped down.
However, Jain had long been associated with the rival group and had recently defected to the present committee.
The members in the rival camp had levelled several allegations against the present committee, including mismanagement of funds and not carrying out any development of the club.
A founder member of the Riverside Club and part of the rival group, said on condition of anonymity, “We’re fighting the elections to rescue this club, and we are confident of our win this time. The present committee has been in power for the past 12 years, and they did nothing except embezzle funds.”
Another member said the club was established to provide a place for organising social and cultural programmes, but for the past few years that purpose was lost. He added, “Last year, the present managing committee embezzled Rs 10 lakh, which we somehow managed to recover.”
When City Spidey contacted Jain, the presidential candidate, he refused to comment, adding, “I will speak only on November 12.”
The Riverside Club has about 900 members — of them, 600 are promoting members, all from the 22 co-operative group housing societies (CGHS) in Mayur Vihar Phase I Extension. The rest, who are from outside the CGHS, are associate members. Only the promoting members have the right to elect the managing committee after two years.
AK Chakraborty, a resident of Samachar Apartments and one of the founding members of the club, said, “The club was established in 1995 and is the only one of its kind in East Delhi with a swimming pool, a bar, a restaurant, a sports club and other facilities. The purpose of the club was to provide a place to assemble the residents of the 22 CGHS societies. But things have changed now and people use the club for their own reasons. ”
