Gokul Dairy row: Thousands take to streets in Kolhapur against Maharashtra government's decision to appoint directors

Thousands of people on Monday participated in a Sangharsh Morcha march in Kolhapur to protest the Maharashtra government's decision to appoint directors in the Gokul Milk Cooperative Society.

Thousands of people on Monday participated in a Sangharsh Morcha march in Kolhapur to protest the Maharashtra government's decision to appoint directors in the Gokul Milk Cooperative Society. The protest march began at Dashhara Chowk and proceeded towards the District Collector's office, with participants opposing the state government's decision.

Following this, the Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government of attempting to take control of the Gokul Milk Union in Kolhapur, alleging that changes to voting rules were made after the BJP panel lost the cooperative's election. In a post on X, the Congress claimed that milk producers associated with Gokul had taken to the streets in protest against the state government, accusing it of trying to overturn the people's mandate.

The party said its panel won 13 of the 25 seats in the Gokul Milk Union elections, while the BJP panel secured 12 seats. However, it alleged that the government subsequently changed the rules and granted voting rights to four directors, increasing the BJP panel's strength from 12 to 16 "Frustrated by this defeat, the BJP government changed the rules. The government gave four directors voting rights—allowing the BJP to increase its seats from 12 to 16," Congress said.

Describing the development as a "theft of the people's mandate", the party said Maharashtra's farmers would not forgive the BJP. Cockroach Janta Party activist Abhijeet Dipke also criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, accusing him of attempting a "hostile takeover" of the milk cooperative after losing the election.

"The Chief Minister calls others anarchists, but after losing an election to a milk cooperative himself, he tries to use his power to stage a ‘hostile takeover’ instead of accepting the people’s verdict," Dipke said in a post on X. He further alleged that attempts were being made to undermine the people's mandate and praised Kolhapur residents who had taken to the streets in protest."Those who trample on the people’s verdict and try to seize power are the real anarchists," he said.

Dipke, in a separate post on X, further explained that the elections were held for the Gokul Dairy, in which Satej Patil's group won 13 seats, while the BJP-led Mahayuti secured 12. He alleged that following the defeat, the BJP government brought in an ordinance appointing four additional members with voting rights. With these four additional votes, the BJP-led group could secure a majority and take control of the cooperative despite losing the election. Satej Patil earlier accused the Maharashtra government of attempting to take control of the Rs 4,000-crore Gokul cooperative dairy by retrospectively changing the law, alleging that the move was aimed at overturning the mandate secured by his panel in the board elections.

The local elections became a big talking point as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also accused the BJP of attempting to overturn the electoral mandate in the Gokul Milk Cooperative elections in Maharashtra's Kolhapur, alleging that the rules were changed after the Congress-led panel defeated the BJP-backed Mahayuti alliance. He posted on X, "In Gokul, milk producers have defeated the BJP. So the BJP changed the rules after the election - stuff in 4 directors, turn 12 into 16, steal the majority. This is theft of the milk producers' votes - adulteration in the mandate. The BJP has become so desperate that it's going to any lengths everywhere to save power. Those who steal the milk producers' votes, remember - farmers don't forget."However, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rejected the allegations, saying the government's decision to nominate members with voting rights was aimed at resolving the quorum crisis that has stalled the election of its chairman.

The Chief Minister said neither of the two groups in Gokul had sufficient numbers to meet the quorum requirement for electing the chairman. He said the election could not be held earlier after one group remained absent from the meeting, following which the matter went to court. The court subsequently directed that the election be held on November 10, but did not permit the election to proceed without the required quorum. "First of all, we must understand that after the Gokul elections, neither of the two groups has enough votes to fulfil the quorum requirement. If the quorum is not completed, the chairman cannot be elected. Therefore, if either of the two groups boycotts the meeting or remains absent, the election of the chairman cannot take place," he said.

Fadnavis further explained that under Gokul's laws and bylaws, if the election could not be conducted on three occasions, the powers would revert to the District Deputy Registrar (DDR), leaving the elected representatives without those powers. He said the provision to nominate certain individuals with voting rights was intended to address the statutory complication arising from the absence of a sufficient quorum. (ANI)