Wire Centre┃Mumbai
With anti-incumbency emerging as the dominant theme of the campaign, Mumbai Press Club election 2026 has become one of the most competitive contests the institution has seen in years. PDA is banking on Rajeev Khandekar’s credibility to hold on to power, while the Save the Press Club Alliance, led by Surendra Gangan, is working to convert member dissatisfaction into votes at the ballot. For many in the city’s media fraternity, this has turned into a referendum on the outgoing administration — much of it tracing back to a 2025 controversy involving former President Samar Khadas, which still shadows the campaign despite Khadas not contesting this year. The final outcome will only be known on voting day, but one thing is already clear: this is no longer just an election for President, but a contest over the kind of leadership the Club’s members want going forward.
PDA Banks on Continuity to Fend Off the Challenge.
Rajeev Khandekar has pitched himself as a unifier, promising to strengthen the Press Club as a hub for intellectual discussion and bring journalists from print, television, and digital media onto a common platform. PDA’s broader messaging leans on continuity — stability and the strengthening of existing institutional activities — rather than a dramatic overhaul. Political observers within the fraternity see the choice of Khandekar, rather than Khadas, as a deliberate attempt by the party to reset the narrative around this election and put some distance between itself and last year’s controversy. PDA leaders have dismissed the opposition’s “Khandekar is Khadas” framing as propaganda, insisting their candidate’s own track record and standing in the industry should speak for itself. The party is essentially betting that Khandekar’s credibility as a senior editor, combined with the institutional stability PDA has built over its years in power, will be enough to hold off a challenge built largely on discontent rather than a rival vision.
Mumbai Press Club election 2026 PDA
PDA Candidates: President — Rajeev Khandekar; Chairperson — Mayuresh Ganpatye; Vice Chairperson — Ashish Raje; Secretary — Saurabh Sharma; Treasurer — Shashank Parade; Managing Committee — Ashish Rane, Anurag Kamble, Aneesh Patil, Jyotsna Gangane, Girish Gaikwad, Girish Chitre, Swapnil Mishra, Sanjay Ranjit, Nachiket Kulkarni
PDA Chairperson candidate Mayuresh Ganpatye
Save the Press Club Alliance Pushes a Reform Agenda.
Surendra Gangan has drawn visible support from senior journalists across multiple media organisations during the campaign. His backers point to his clean image, an inclusive approach, and a reform-oriented pitch as the reasons his alliance is gaining ground — with television journalists still unhappy about last year’s controversy emerging as a key support base, making this contest noticeably tighter than previous Press Club elections. Gangan has built his campaign around reform and development, promising to restart the long-pending Press Club redevelopment project, roll out housing schemes for journalists, improve Mediclaim and welfare initiatives, ensure transparent administration, and secure equal opportunities for journalists across television, print, digital, and regional media. Unlike PDA’s continuity-focused pitch, the Save the Press Club Alliance has framed its entire candidacy around change — positioning itself as the answer to what many members see as unresolved grievances from the past year, and arguing that only a genuine shift in leadership, not a change of face within the same alliance, can restore trust in the institution. Supporters describe the alliance’s platform as an effort to bring “inclusive leadership” back to the Club, with representation across all wings of the media as a central promise.
Save the Press Club Alliance
Save the Press Club Alliance Managing Committee member
