LAHORE: The ‘Monopoly Breakers’ panel largely broke the monopoly of the `Salman-Misbah’ panel that was running the Lahore Gymkhana affairs since some years as both panels bagged six seats each for the 12-member Committee of Management (COM) – making a tie in electing the committee chairman.

Of a total 5,600 registered club voters, 3,158 voters exercised their right to franchise and voted for the top six candidates of each panel during an election held on Saturday (Feb 14).

According to election results announced in the early hours of Sunday, the Monopoly Breakers panel leader Dr Ali Razaque grabbed the highest (1,772) votes for the fourth consecutive time in a row, while his panel’s winning candidates and their votes were: Kamran Lashari (1,637); Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera (1,549); Dr Jawad Sajid Khan (1,328); Tasneem Noorani (1,297); and M Zia-ur-Rehman (1,220).

Similarly, the Salman-Misbah Panel’s Salman Siddique got the second highest (1,733) votes; Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman bagged third highest (1,700) votes; Wajid Aziz Khan got 1,693 votes; Sarmad Nadeem got 1,536 votes Mian Parvez Bhandara got 1,268 and Ms Samaira Nazir got 1,201 votes.

The third panel, ‘Reformers’, which was in the field, could not secure any seat in the Gymkhana COM.

The Gymkhana’s elected COM will meet on Monday (today) to decide about the committee chairman as the club’s by-laws are silent about such a situation - when two rival panels bag the same number of seats.

It is learnt that a similar situation had also arisen some two decades ago but still no way to deal with this situation was given. In 2020, the club COM’s three-year chairman tenure was shared by Dr Jawad Sajid Khan and Mian Misbah-ur-Rehman.

While the committee is yet to decide about the manner in which the Gymkhana Club chairman will be elected, a couple of proposals are making rounds that include six-month chairman tenure for each winning panel; decide chairmanship on a toss; or the higher number of votes bagged by a panel.

The Salman-Misbah panel’s top six candidates had collectively secured 9,131 votes, while the Monopoly Breakers panel’s top six candidates got 7,635 votes, the group is propagating that the highest vote earners should have an edge to elevate one of its members as chairman.

On the other hand, the Monopoly Breakers panel supporters are propagating that Dr Ali Razaque, who had bagged the highest votes among his colleagues for the fourth consecutive time, should be given the chairmanship as is the case in other clubs in the country.

Speaking to Dawn, Monopoly Breakers Kamran Lashari said his panel had been able to break the outgoing body’s monopoly in the club elections – to some extent. Acknowledging that there was no provision in the club by-laws for the situation, he suggested that the COM strength should either be reduced to 11 members or increased to 13 members to avoid such a situation.

He said the COM members’ meeting would also discuss all options including if one panel gets chairmanship, then the other panel would be given more say in the club’s committees.

Mr Lashari also echoed his point-of-view that one-year tenure for the Gymkhana body, which was elected in an election that involved a lot of money and time, was too short. “The Gymkhana Club COM should be elected for at least two years tenure,” he asserted.

Announcing the results in the early hours of Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Justice retd Ahmad Farooq stated that 39 candidates participated in the election for 12 COM seats. He stated that 3,158 votes were polled and the 12 top scorers had been notified.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026