Modi shuts down exclusive British colonial club

For more than a century, Delhi’s Gymkhana Club stood at the centre of India’s establishment.

British colonial officers and Indian royals would rub shoulders beneath its high ceilings and deep verandas while liveried staff served drinks across carefully manicured lawns.

After independence, generals, ministers and bureaucrats continued the imperial tradition, negotiating over whisky sodas, plotting on the 26 tennis courts and forging alliances over billiards.

Now Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, wants it gone.