Mumbai: Former members of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) are alleging political interference in the council’s upcoming April 26 elections, which would be the first to be held in a decade. The dispute has split the Indian Medical Association (IMA) into two rival factions, each claiming to be the organisation’s sole legitimate representative.The rift centres on two competing panels: the ‘Official IMA MMC Panel’ backed by current state president Dr Santosh Kulkarni and allegedly supported by the BJP-affiliated Vaidkiya Aghadi, and the ‘IMA Members MMC Panel’ backed by 14 past presidents and senior members.Dr Suhas Pingle, a former MMC member, said Dr Kulkarni bypassed official protocol by scrapping a panel previously vetted in 2025. Even as there was a majority IMA member consensus to retain that original panel, Dr Pingle added the leadership “arbitrarily” changed eligibility rules and appointed a selection committee of newcomers to hand-pick a new group. The move was so contentious that four senior members reportedly walked out of the process in protest.Past MMC president Dr Shivkumar Utture also alleged that members of the original 2025 panel received threatening phone calls from Vaidkiya Aghadi pressuring them to jump ship to the new panel. “One member even left because of the pressure,” Dr Utture said.These elections are particularly high-stakes as the MMC has functioned under a state-appointed administrator since 2022. The council consists of nine elected members and nine govt appointees; this is intended to balance the interests of the medical fraternity as well as the state.Dr Kulkarni has called all allegations baseless, maintaining that his panel is the only official one. While his panel includes an alliance with the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association, he insists all other candidates are IMA members. “Past presidents do not have any authority. I am the Maharashtra state president so the panel I am calling the official panel is indeed an official panel,” he said.
