Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has swept the election to Mumbai Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). BJP was routed in the election held on February 29.
Of the 25 posts, 18 are elected and remaining 7 are nominated by the state government. The election took place for 18 posts. More than 180 candidates were in the fray for the 18 posts. MVA government decided to lift the administrator's rule imposed by the BJP-led government after it assumed the office in October 2014.
MVA partners Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress had joined hands to defeat BJP in the Mumbai APMC which is situated at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. However, after losing power in the state, BJP was struggling to get candidates. BJP had made it a prestige issue but failed to open its account.
On the other hand, MVA partners jointly worked out a poll strategy to gain control on the Mumbai APMC with an annual turnover of Rs 20,000 crore. Mumbai APMC is engaged in the transactions in fruits, food grains, vegetables, onions and potatoes, sugar and spices. More than 2,000 trucks arrive daily in the market.
NCP leader Shashikant Shinde told FPJ, “BJP during its government between 2014 and 2019 made every attempt to disrupt the cooperative sector. BJP also appointed their party members on various committees in the cooperative sector to checkmate NCP and Congress. However, BJP was trounced in the Mumbai APMC election.''
The Mumbai APMC election took place after the MVA government scrapped the BJP-led government's decision to give farmers the right to elect the members and chairperson of APMC in their area, where they sell their produce. The BJP-led government in 2017 had amended the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce and Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 1963.
However, the MVA government in January cancelled this provision and restored the older procedure where members of gram panchayats, multi-purpose co-operative societies and agriculture credit societies, elected the APMC board.
