The Kamran Lashari-led group was leading the elections of the Lahore Gymkhana Club for the years 2016-19 according to the unofficial results till the filing of this story.
Shaukat Javed, Khawaja Imran Zubair, Ahsan Saeed Mian, and Sami ur Rahman lead from the Lashari group, while the opposing group’s Mian Parvez Bhandara and Mian Misbah were able to muster enough votes to take seats on the club’s committee of management (CoM).
Talking to Pakistan Today, Kamran Lashari said that his group was leading with 9 seats, according to the unofficial results.
There were a total of 39 candidates in the race for the club committee’s 12 seats. The 12-member CoM then elects one member from among themselves as their chairman. There were two groups having 12 members each contesting the election with one group being led by Mian Misbah ur Rehman and Kamran Lashari leading the other group. Moreover, 15 candidates were taking part in the elections as independent candidates.
A rigorous campaign run by the candidates resulted in a very large number of voters and an unprecedented turnout was witnessed throughout the polling on Tuesday. Around 3,000 of the clubs 5,480 members cast their votes, amounting to a nearly 55% voter turnout. The voter turnout has not reached 50% for a number of previous elections.
Mian Misbah ur Rehman’s group consisted of Mian Parvez Bhandara, Agha Ali Imam, Parvez Bashir Agha, Sarmad Nadeem, Karamat Ullah Chaudry, Zahid Nabi Malik, Shafqat Rana, Tariq Hamid, Aamir Iftikhar, Javed Habib Oberoia, and Khawaja Suhail Iftikhar.
Shaukat Javed, Sami ur Rahman, Dr Jawad Sajid Khan, Dr Ali Razaque, Mian Javed Zahur, Khawaja Imran Zubair, Ahsan Saeed Mian, Dr Atif Kazmi, Samira Maroof Khan, Khalid Rafiq, and Moeen Sarwar (Booji) were contesting from the panel being led by Kamran Lashari.
The independent candidates were Rahim Yaqoob Malik, Justice (r) Sajjad Ahmed Sipra, Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry, Qamar Khan (Bobby), Col (r) Hamayun Rashid, Kazim Ali Mehkary, Lt Col (r) Muhammad Azam Khan, Aamir Waheed Chaudhry, Taha Mahmood, Tariq Saeed Khan, Wajid Aziz Khan, Mian Samiuddin, Major retired Javed Nasrullah, Sqn Ldr (r) Ihsan Qadir, and Mian Waqar-ud-Din.
Mian Misbah ur Rehman is a leading businessman and therefore enjoyed the support of the business community and industrialists. Rehman was the incumbent chairman of the CoM and decided to contest the elections once again. On the other hand, Kamran Lashari, who is himself a retired bureaucrat, had the support of former bureaucrats.
The elections were earlier postponed a couple of times in January and February. The interest of the voters was at its peak as the elections of the Lahore Gymkhana were held after a gap of three years. The last elections of the club were held in December 2013.
Noted voters included were National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Provincial Ministers Zaeem Hussain Qadri and Raja Ishfaq Sarwar, Lahore Mayor Col (r) Mubashir Javaid, fromer chief ministers of Punjab Ch Parvez Elahi and Mian Manzoor Watto, former governor of Punjab Mian Muhammad Azhar, and Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan of the Lahore High Court. A large number of retired and sitting bureaucrats also cast their votes.
Traffic on roads adjacent to the club were jam-packed and moving at a snail’s pace on Zafar Ali Road as a long queue of vehicles formed at the time of polling. According to the police sources, more than 70 police officials were deputed there under the supervision of one superintendent of police (SP), 2 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and 10 inspectors to provide security to the participants. Moreover, 50 wardens were also deputed under the supervision of one SP, three DSPs, and 10 patrolling officers of the traffic police.