On 22 May 2026, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs issued an eviction order directing the historic 113-year- old Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its 27.3-acre Lutyens’ Delhi premises by June 5. The government cited an urgent necessity to reclaim the land for “strengthening and securing defence infrastructure,” governancerelated needs, and “vital public security purposes”.

In response, club members and staff mounted a legal challenge. While the Delhi High Court declined to grant an immediate stay on the eviction, it mandated that the government must follow due legal process and provide prior notice before taking any forcible possession of the iconic property. The government’s eviction order has ignited a fierce debate, pitting the preservation of colonial-era heritage and elite club culture against the state’s prerogative to reclaim prime public land for defence and national security.

While the Gymkhana members protest the abrupt takeover of the Lutyens’ Delhi property and its impact on 14,000 members, proponents of the move welcome the repurposing of highly subsidized land away from exclusive privilege toward broader public use. Ironically, this eviction order has drawn critical attention to the sheer extravagance of political housing in Lutyens’ Delhi. While the Gymkhana Club is a social asset utilized by thousands of members, military veterans, and civil servants, Lutyens’ Delhi bungalows are the personal, taxpayer-subsidized domains of individuals.

The juxtaposition is glaring: the government invokes “public purpose” and strategic necessity to dismantle a historical social institution, yet it hardly exercises the same urgency when it comes to reclaiming or rightsizing the expansive, sprawling acreages assigned to Ministers and MPs. In Delhi, holding public office is inextricably linked to grand, estate-style living. Historical bungalows in the capital feature thousands of square feet of living space, sprawling lawns, and extensive staff quarters. Ministers and Members of Parliament pay only a nominal “licence fee”, along with highly subsidized utilities and generous allowances, while the actual market value of these properties is astronomical.

This arrangement often creates a severe psychological divide between the political class and the everyday citizens they represent. While the intention behind this perk was to ensure that lawmakers from diverse economic backgrounds have a secure base to perform their legislative duties, it has transformed into a symbol of entrenched elite status. By moving against the Delhi Gymkhana Club, the government has unwittingly opened a Pandora’s box, prompting the public to ask a highly uncomfortable question: if a 27-acre social club must be surrendered for national necessity, why should single-family political mansions remain untouched?

Thus, the government’s eviction of the iconic club has sparked a broader debate over who holds prime Lutyens’ real estate. This assertion of state power has inadvertently shifted the spotlight onto the massive, sprawling government bungalows occupied by Ministers and Members of Parliament. Sprawling bungalows of Ministers and MPs stand as a unique historical anomaly, contrasting sharply with the compact, heavily regulated housing provided to Ministers and members of national legislative bodies in other major........

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