One of India’s most exclusive private clubs is facing eviction. What’s behind the fight that has upset Delhi’s elite?

The Delhi Gymkhana Club has attracted the attention of Narendra Modi’s government.

It is now suddenly under threat

Narendra Modi’s government has ordered one of India’s most exclusive private clubs, the Delhi Gymkhana Club, to https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/23/india-government-orders-takeover-exclusive-delhi-gymkhana-club-narendra-modi">vacate its sprawling premises – the latest move against institutions seen as symbols of Delhi’s old world establishment.

The club has long been synonymous with India’s upper echelons, although before Independence in 1947 it was largely a preserve of the British colonial elite, admitting only a select few Indians.