Maharashtra: Congress MLA Satej Patil Accuses Mahayuti Of Trying To Alter Gokul Milk Union Majority Through Nominated Directors

Mumbai: Congress MLA Satej Patil has accused the ruling Mahayuti of attempting to alter the majority of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union, also known as Gokul, by granting voting rights to government-nominated directors. Patil claimed that despite winning a clear majority in the recent elections, the opposition Samvichari alliance was being sidelined through political maneuvering.

He denounced the proposed appointment of four government-nominated directors with voting rights as an attempt to undermine democratic processes and called on the ruling alliance to respect the will of the milk producers. While the like-minded alliance secured 13 out of the 25 seats in the Gokul election, all 12 directors from the Mahayuti were absent from the meeting held on October 29 to elect the chairman.

With the mandatory quorum of 14 directors not met, the meeting was postponed. The court subsequently ordered the convening of the meeting and issuance of notices to all directors. Patil accused the Mahayuti of attempting to retain control over Gokul by appointing four government-nominated members and granting them voting rights.

He questioned the rationale behind the elections if the people's mandate could be overridden on technical grounds and questioned whether the government was contemplating amending laws to permit voting rights for nominated directors, thus altering the majority equation. Patil warned that such actions in cooperative milk unions could potentially occur in municipal corporations, municipal councils, and zilla parishads, undermining the value of votes cast by citizens.