The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) does not have a formal two-party system for contesting trusteeship elections. But the last two elections and the forthcoming one on July 1, 2018 indicate two distinct camps at play. One is headed by the current BPP chairman Yazdi Desai along with his co-trustee Kersi Randeria, and the other by former BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta. While Desai is a traditionalist and Randeria liberal, what unites them is their determination to limit Mehta’s clout.
Desai has a personal loathing for Mehta following their fallout around 2011 when Desai supported the candidature of his wife Anahita,......