The Bangalore Turf Club is in precipitous decline, and only urgent, sweeping intervention can prevent complete institutional collapse. Government pressure, financial decay, and a devastating leadership vacuum have converged to place the club in its worst crisis in living memory. Successive chairmen have been unequal to the demands of the office, compromised by betting circles, lacking authority, and unable to uphold even the basic standards of racing administration.

The current chairman, Shivashankar, has virtually surrendered decision-making to the notorious “Tantrum Twins.” Their private office functions as the club’s unofficial headquarters, dictating decisions, engineering outcomes, and turning the committee into a helpless bystander. Senior members, instead of asserting control, have allowed this parallel power centre to take root and flourish.

The ouster of the Secretary and the Chief Stipendiary Steward, the two principal officers who ensure administrative continuity and racing integrity, has left BTC functioning on an ad-hoc, unstable, and dangerous basis. Without these institutional guardrails, the supervision of racing has collapsed.

This deterioration is no longer whispered in corridors, senior members Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs and Sydney Moses have formally written to the chairman, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the way the club is run and highlighting how the supervision of racing has “gone for a six.” Urs has also raised the serious issue of stewards indulging in betting, a direct affront to the quasi-judicial responsibilities they hold besides the nexus with the bookmakers and big-time punters.

To add to the chaos, the spectre of glanders threatens to derail the winter season. A few horses have been isolated for testing, yet trainers attempted to race them this week, an unfathomable lapse reminiscent of the negligence that crippled Hyderabad’s racing calendar.

And while crises mount, member reaction remains dishearteningly muted. Many members inherited their positions through a captive electorate that long allowed a few groups to dominate the club. With little real commitment to the sport, they have neither questioned the leadership nor demanded accountability. This apathy is reflected in the market, membership priced at nearly ?30 lakh finds no takers, unsurprising given that the club offers little beyond a dilapidated clubhouse and a tarnished reputation.

What is even more alarming is the administrative culture that has taken root. If one wants a licence or any work cleared, the route is simple: get the blessing of the Twins, bring government pressure, or offer inducements. Merit has ceased to be a virtue, in today’s BTC, merit is a liability. Influence, manipulation, and patronage decide outcomes, not competence or integrity.

Meanwhile, the forensic audit ordered by the government, which carries damning findings, lies untouched. Stakeholders have repeatedly demanded that the government act, because the audit was commissioned for precisely that purpose.

Given this unprecedented dysfunction, government intervention is not just imminent—it is necessary. BTC stands at the edge of an abyss. Only decisive reforms, restoration of professional governance, enforcement of racing integrity, and external oversight can arrest the drift and salvage what remains of a once-respected institution.