Mahayuti’s Rajesh Patil wins chair of Kolhapur’s Gokul dairy; Opposition cries foul

Rajesh Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) became chairman of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, known as Gokul, on 10 November, The Indian Express reported. Gokul is Maharashtra’s largest dairy cooperative.

His election gives the ruling Mahayuti alliance, led by the BJP, control of the dairy’s chair only weeks after it lost the board election. The Opposition has alleged foul play, the paper reported.

The background

A panel backed by Congress MLC Satej Patil won a majority in the board election, whose results were declared on 19 October. The chair then stayed empty for weeks.

On 29 October, the Mahayuti’s 12 directors stayed away from the meeting called to elect a chairman, and it was adjourned for lack of quorum. Satej Patil’s group held a separate meeting and said it had elected Shashikant Patil-Chuyekar, according to reports at the time by PTI and UNI.

It was not clear from the reports how the Mahayuti’s candidate won a majority of the directors on 10 November.

Celebration in Chandgad

The Marathi daily Pudhari reported that Mr. Rajesh Patil’s home area of Chandgad has got Gokul’s chairmanship for the first time in 63 years, and that villages there celebrated with firecrackers.

Satej Patil’s detailed response was not available when this story was published.