Mumbai: The power struggle over the control of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union (Gokul) has intensified, with Congress MLA Satej alias Bunty Patil accusing the ruling Mahayuti of attempting to overturn the electoral mandate by granting voting rights to government-nominated directors.
Satej Patil Accuses Mahayuti Of Attempting To Alter Electoral Majority
Patil alleged that despite securing a clear majority in the recently concluded elections, the opposition's 'Samvichari alliance' (like-minded) alliance was being deliberately kept away from power through political manoeuvres. He termed the reported move to appoint four government-nominated directors with voting rights an attempt to undermine democracy and urged the ruling alliance to respect the mandate of milk producers.
The like-minded alliance won 13 of the 25 seats in the Gokul election, securing a majority. However, all 12 directors belonging to the Mahayuti remained absent from the meeting convened on October 29 to elect the chairman. Since the mandatory quorum of 14 directors was not met, the meeting had to be postponed.
Court Directs Fresh Meeting And Notices To All Directors
Following this, directors from the Samvichari alliance (like-minded alliance) approached the court. During the hearing, the court directed that the meeting be convened and notices be issued to all directors to ensure their presence.
Meanwhile, Patil alleged that the Mahayuti was attempting to retain control of Gokul by appointing four government-nominated members and granting them voting rights. He said that instead of accepting its electoral defeat, the ruling alliance was using technical grounds to delay the process and alter the majority equation.
Questioning the need for elections if the people's mandate could be blocked on technical grounds, Patil asked whether the government was considering amending the law or granting voting rights to nominated directors to change the majority in Gokul.
He warned that what was happening in the cooperative milk union could be repeated in municipal corporations, municipal councils and zilla parishads. If nominated members were allowed to overturn an electoral mandate, the value of votes cast by citizens would be undermined, he said.
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