FCC of South Asia Polls: Munish Gupta out of presidential race

“Good Riddance,” say Club members with a huge sigh of relief

Delhi Crown Bureau

New Delhi: The final list of candidates for the elections at Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of South Asia was released on Thursday, with two former presidents vying for the top post, and the current “president” Munish Gupta out of the race.

Members at large are having a big sigh of relief at Gupta’s ouster from the presidential race saying “Good Riddance”…!

Now, it is learnt that Munish Gupta is trying to find solace under a former president (Venkat) by forging a panel under the latter’s name in a bid to enter into Governing Committee as a simple member…!

P.M. Narayanan, who works with a German media organisation, would be new Treasurer as he is lone candidate left after a lady journalist who had filed her nomination withdrew on Wednesday night.

Senior journalist Prakash Nanda is considered as a suitable candidate for the post “Secretary”, even as eight Members of Governing Committee are to be elected out of the 12 contestants.

A total of five candidates had filed nominations for the post of President. With three, including Munish Gupta having withdrawn, there are two – Dr. Waeil Awwad and Venkat Narayan, are left in the ring.

Pankaj Yadav, a Member in the current Governing Committee’s and former Treasurer, told www.thedelhicrown.com that Gupta’s ouster from the race for president’s post is a good riddance for the Club.

“Munish Gupta had spread a lot of filth at the Club over the past two years ever since he took over in April 2021. Out of the eight-member Governing Committee as many as four are already out and he has been managing/running a Co-opted Governing Committee after bringing in three new members. The original four elected Members resigned as a mark of protest against Gupta’s undemocratic style of functioning. During his tenure the Club witnessed some tumultuous times amid a spate of police complaints and court cases filed at the behest of Munish Gupta. It never happened earlier in the Club’s history since 1958,” he added.

Yadav further said that Munish Gupta is a non-journalist and runs his own small time YouTube channel. “Munish has a notorious personal-and-family background. His real sister Manoranjana Sinh was jailed for quite some time for her role in the infamous Saradha Scam that rocked the country a decade ago,” added Yadav.

According to Yadav, it a was huge mistake on the part of a past president for allotting the Foreign Correspondent (FC) category to Munish Gupta a few years ago, and then installing him first as the Secretary (four years ago) and then as president two years ago.

“Munish Gupta doesn’t fulfil the eligibility for being a FC member at the Club as mentioned in the Constitution. He has no job as a journalist, but is more of a small-time businessman as he is learnt to have floated a couple of companies in his name,” Yadav said further.