Kolhapur, Oct 19 The panel backed by Congress MLC Satej Patil on Monday won election to a leading cooperative milk producers’ union in Maharashtra, defeating the Mahayuti-supported group led by senior NCP minister Hasan Mushrif in a setback to the ruling alliance in the western region.
With its victory, the Patil-backed panel has wrested control of the board of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, better known as Gokul Dairy.
The Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi, led by the Congress leader, won 13 seats, while the Mahayuti-backed Chhatrapati Shahu Shetkari Vikas Aghadi secured 12 seats, according to results.
Polling for 25 seats on the cooperative milk union’s board was held on Sunday and counting of votes was taken up on Monday.
Among the prominent losers were Mushrif’s son Navid, a former chairman of the cooperative, and Shoumika, wife of BJP leader Dhananjay Mahadik.
The results came as a blow to the BJP-led ruling alliance Mahayuti, whose leaders had campaigned together in an effort to secure control of the influential cooperative institution.
Patil said the poll outcome reflected the preference of milk producers for local leadership.
“The members want Gokul to be run by people from Kolhapur and not by those sitting in Mumbai,” he said, claiming the Mahayuti panel’s candidates had been finalised in the Maharashtra capital.
The Congress legislator alleged 98 votes had been deliberately declared invalid during counting.
Had these votes not been invalidated, half a dozen additional candidates from his panel would have won, Patil said.
NCP minister Mushrif accepted the verdict, saying the decision of dairy farmers, who as members of the union formed the electoral college for the poll, had to be respected.
He said differences within the Mahayuti alliance, which persisted until the final stages before its leaders came together for the election, might have influenced voters.
The substantial number of invalid votes was another factor (for Mahayuti’s loss), he noted.
The polling witnessed near 100 per cent turnout, with 5,416 of the 5,418 eligible electors (representing primary cooperative milk societies) casting their votes.
Voting took place at 35 booths across Kolhapur district under heavy security, with 50 candidates contesting on behalf of the two panels. No untoward incident was reported during polling.
The contest had turned into a prestige battle for political parties in western Maharashtra, given Gokul’s influence over the cooperative sector and the dairy economy.
The federation plays a significant role in milk procurement and marketing of dairy products, supporting the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.
Congress MLC Patil, who was part of the winning panel in the previous election, contested separately this time after being excluded from the Mahayuti’s electoral arrangement.
During the campaign, his Samvichari Aghadi panel had assured to increase daily milk collection from 20 lakh litres to 30 lakh litres. The panel also promised procurement prices for buffalo and cow milk will be raised by Rs 5 per litre and Rs 2 per litre, respectively, if they were elected to run the board.
(PTI News)
