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Two panels lock horns in IAS poll

SHARJAH —The Indian expatriate community here is set to face yet another democratic battle as pre-poll procedures for the upcoming Indian Association Sharjah (IAS) governing body election, was completed on Friday. The election is scheduled to be held on September 1.

As the last day for withdrawl of nominations was on Friday, the field is now set for a direct battle between two panels: One led by former president Y.A. Rahim and the other led by K.M. Mathews which represents the present governing body.

The two camps have started their campaigns and canvassing for polls and they are mainly focused on various internal issues of the Association. A barrage of telephone calls are being made and bunches of letters have already been sent out to all IAS members by both panels highlighting their achievements.

While the Y. A Rahim panel has accused the existing governing body of turning the association into a political platform, the rival group has denied the allegation as baseless.

“For the past one year, IAS has been completely inactive and all the development activities were stopped. My slogan for the election is 'save IAS from politics'. The existing body failed to fulfill the responsibilities towards the Indian community and the IAS members,” claimed Rahim.

“The association has served the Indian community and IAS members over the past one year better than ever before under the leadership of Late M.K. Madhavan, who died in a car accident,” said Mathews

The crucial factor for this year's elections will be the added number of new members.

Of the total 2,805 voters, 1,305 are new members.

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