Amritsar, January 9
The fight to take over the reins of the Amritsar chapter of the Indian Medical College got murkier this year as the two opposite groups contested each other over the issue of a candidature for the post of vice-president.
High drama prevailed at the IMA hall here which forced the election committee to postpone the elections till further orders on Sunday evening. Officials of the IMA stated that the next date of the elections would be announced in the next few days.
Senior members of the IMA stated that the eligibility criterion for contesting the elections for the five-member body states that the candidates should have a membership of not less than five years.
The eligibility criterion further requires the candidate to have a minimum attendance of 30 per cent during the IMA meetings held during the previous year. However, Dr Rajesh Kumar, one of the candidates contesting for the post of vice-president, had zero attendance.
Dr Santokh Singh, a senior doctor and election commissioner for the elections, said, “After the candidates have filed their nominations, it is the duty of the election committee to scrutinise the papers.” He said he had never witnessed such a ruckus in the history of IMA during the elections.
Insiders say the elections to the IMA Amritsar are usually a quiet affair, but this time a group is making strenuous efforts to take control of the body. Sources stated that the group had even promised a 50 per cent discount on the membership to new members just a few weeks before the elections.
Dr RS Sethi, president, IMA, said, “The three members of the contesting team were issued show-cause notices for not working as per the IMA ethics and rules.”
He said a report of the incident was also sent to the state-level functionaries of the IMA. Over 500 IMA members, including a vice-chancellor, a Cabinet minister and an MLA had turned up to vote, but they had to return due to unfortunate incidents.
New date to be announced soon
High drama prevailed at the IMA hall here which forced the election committee to postpone the elections till further ordersOfficials of the IMA stated that the next date of the elections would be announced in the next few days
