Row over Patna Medical College alumni association election

Patna: An internal tussle between two groups of Patna Medical College alumni came to fore after principal, Dr Vidyapati Chaudhary, on Wednesday called for a general body meeting next week to hold the election of the alumni association. This is contrary to a letter, which the former alumni association released, regarding the completed election process and names of the newly elected members.
As per another letter by Dr Chaudhary on Wednesday, the general meeting will be held on the PMCH campus at 1pm on April 29, stating every member was welcome to contest and participate in the alumni association election. He also expressed shock over the formation of a new body on Feb 25 during the PMCH's centenary celebration, alleging the said meeting was done in a drawing room and no one was aware of the election process. "Even the members who were elected were not aware of the said process. Even, I being the patron, was not aware of this election," Dr Chaudhary said, adding so long they were busy conducting the centenary celebrations. "So, now we have decided to hold the election so that everyone gets a fair chance."
However, Dr Sachchidanand Kumar, the incumbent treasurer of the association, denied the allegations levelled by Dr Chaudhary. "The alumni association is an independent body formed in 1936, and the principal has nothing to do with it. The principal has a role in the College Foundation Day committee but no jurisdiction over the alumni association," said Dr Sachchidanand, adding the election process was completed on Feb 25 itself. "The date is followed every time as maximum number of members are present because we celebrate the foundation day. A letter in this regard with the sign of former president Dr Satyajit Kumar Singh and secretary Dr Narendra Pratap Singh was also released."
The letter read Dr R N Singh was unanimously elected the president, Dr Dinesh Kumar secretary, and Dr Sachchidanand continuing as the treasurer. Among other new members, Dr Ram Raj Ravi is the senior vice-president (VP), Shishir Kumar and Dr Rekha Sinha VP, and Dr Braj Nandan Kumar senior joint secretary. The principal is the chief patron (ex-officio) and the superintendent the patron (ex-officio), read the letter.
Dr Sachchidanand even levelled various allegations over the centenary celebration, citing huge amount being charged from the members in the name of registration and poor management of the function. "The registration was like a movie ticket being sold in black. It started from Rs 7,000 and went up to a whopping Rs 25,000," alleged Dr Sachchidanand.