VIJAYAWADA: The election process for the AP Medical Council (APMC) has begun, with online polling scheduled for February 9, a move doctors across the State have welcomed as a long-pending step after AP bifurcation.

Against this backdrop, candidates of the Doctors Democratic Panel, led by the former IMA President, Dr Nanda Kishore, and Dr Karthik, filed their nominations at the APMC office in Tadepalli on Friday.

Dr Nanda Kishore said 13 candidates from the Doctors Democratic Panel are contesting the elections. “With the experience of the reforms we are entering this election with a clear objective of addressing long-pending issues faced by doctors and boosting Medical Council,” he said.

Karthik said about 1.35 lakh doctors are registered with the Medical Council in AP, of whom over 55,000 are eligible to exercise their franchise. He said online voting will take place from 9 am on February 9.

“If our panel is elected, we are committed to constructing a building for the APMC and implementing further reforms to ensure efficiency in Council functioning,” he said.