Liberals sweep Editors Guild of India elections, Seema Mustafa voted in as president

In the first-ever elections held in Editors Guild of India, liberals defeated pro-government journalists for the post of president, general secretary, and treasurer.

While the editor of Citizen Seema Mustafa won the election for the post of president, the post of general secretary was bagged by Sanjay Kapoor, Editor of Delhi-based Hardnews magazine, after he got 90 votes.

Kapoor defeated ANI’s Smita Prakash by 40 votes; she received only 50 of the total 140 votes cast. Smita Prakash is known for her pro-government stance.

Ananth Nath of The Caravan was nominated for the post of treasurer.

MD Nalapat, another pro-government journalist and columnist who contested for the post of president opposite Seema Mustafa, received only 51 votes while Mustafa bagged 87 votes.

In total, 140 members of the guild voted in the election.

Founded in 1978 with the aim to protect press freedom and maintain standards of editorial leadership, the Editor’s Guild of India is India’s top body of editorial leaders and is considered to be the conscience keeper of the country’s media.

The guild was headed by Shekhar Gupta before the elections held on Friday. In a Twitter post, Sekhar Gupta said, “We may argue in the world of ideas, compete in markets, yet unite in a good common cause.

Many believe that the elections to the guild, known as the ‘Rajya Sabha of journalism’, is reflective of the growing disagreements even within the media fraternity.