Dr Santanu Sen, former Trinamul Congress MP from Rajya Sabha (RS) and former president of the Rogi Kalyan Samity (RKS) of R G Kar Medical College Hospital, was removed from the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) on Friday, hardly two weeks after his party colleague Dr Sudipto Roy, Sreerampur MLA and the president of the council, had requested the state health department to remove the former.

Dr Roy had proposed the health department to nominate a new member to the WBMC as a replacement of Dr Sen.

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Dr Sen was nominated by the state government as a representative in the state medical council. With his removal the rivalry between the two doctors intensified though both of them belong to the same political party.

Swasthya Bhaban would select his replacement soon, sources said.

The rivalry between the two Trinamul Congress leaders has once again brought to the fore because both of them were trying to wrest control of the body that investigates complaints of negligence against doctors and punishes them if found guilty, sources said.

Dr Sen, who is reportedly close to Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the party, has already been removed from list of spokespersons of the ruling party in the state.

He had allegedly made controversial statements regularly while reacting to the heinous rape and murder of the woman postgraduate trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College.

In his letter written to Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary, in charge of the health department, Dr Roy had alleged that Dr Sen had stayed away from the council’s meetings for many months and hence, lost the right to be a member.

The council also issues registration to fresh medical graduates, without which they cannot practice.

The state government nominates three members to the council. Nirmal Maji, a Trinamul MLA and Sourav Paul, a junior doctor, are among the three.

One of the demands of the junior doctors during the statewide protests between August and October, following the R G Kar Hospital incident was the dissolution of the state medical council.