Gokul dairy poll puts Mahayuti unity to test

Differences within the ruling alliance have come to the fore after the BJP fielded candidates for all 25 seats

Mumbai: The upcoming election to the 25-member board of directors of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, widely known by its popular brand name Gokul, is expected to turn into a high-voltage political contest between a panel led by Congress leader Satej Patil and one from the ruling Mahayuti, comprising Maharashtra ministers Hasan Mushrif, Chandrakant Patil, and Prakash Abitkar, and BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik.

Congress leader Satej Patil is leading one of the panels contesting the elections. (HT Photo)

Although the Mahayuti has announced that its constituents—the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—will contest the election together, which has significant political ramifications for state politics, differences within the alliance have come to the fore after the BJP fielded candidates for all 25 seats.

The election for the 25 director seats, to be decided by representatives of 5,332 eligible milk-producer societies at the village level, will be held on October 18. Gokul, one of Maharashtra’s prominent cooperative milk unions, has traditionally been dominated by Satej Patil and Mushrif, who jointly contested the 2021 election. However, the political equations in Maharashtra have changed significantly since then.

After Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined hands with the BJP in 2023, Mushrif and his son Navid Mushrif, who is the chairman of the dairy, have parted ways politically with Satej Patil, paving the way for new and unexpected alliances in the upcoming election.

AY Patil, director of the District Central Cooperative Bank and a heavyweight in the Kolhapur district’s cooperative sector, has joined hands with Satej Patil, although he is associated with the NCP. Another former Gokul director, Arun Dongale, is with Mushrif. Meanwhile, other Mahayuti leaders have struggled to maintain unity.

Despite an agreement among the Mahayuti constituents to contest the election together, infighting within the alliance is at its peak. With September 22 being the last day for filing nominations, the three parties are yet to reach an agreement on seat-sharing. The BJP, following a meeting of its senior leaders, including Chandrakant Patil, on Saturday, filed nominations for all 25 seats, widening the rift within the alliance.

“Though we have announced candidates on all the seats, there will be an amicable withdrawal before the withdrawal deadline,” said a BJP leader from Kolhapur.

According to an NCP leader, there could eventually be a consensus on seat-sharing, but differences persist at the local level. “As political allies, the BJP and NCP are fighting the election together, but there is no synchronisation at the ground level. Milk societies that are with Mushrif may not vote for BJP candidates and could instead support the panel led by Satej Patil. Similarly, other ruling-party leaders, such as AY Patil and Dongale, have aligned with rival groups. This could change the equations during the election,” the NCP leader said.

Milk societies at the village level appoint representatives to vote in the Gokul Dairy election. Each tehsil in Kolhapur has its own dominant political leadership, posing a challenge for both the ruling and opposition panels seeking complete control of the dairy.

Different political groups are already making competing claims about their support base. Hasan Mushrif’s group has claimed that more than 3,500 of the 5,332 societies’ resolutions have been passed in his favour. However, BJP MP Dhananjay Mahadik, a key player in the Gokul election, has questioned the claim.

Kolhapur has traditionally been known for going against the prevailing political wave and producing unexpected political equations. Although Satej Patil and Mushrif are now fighting against each other, stakeholders in the district’s milk sector believe there could still be a tacit understanding between the two leaders.

“Appointing an administrator to the dairy, increasing the number of milk societies considered favourable to the BJP, and disqualifying societies associated with the opposition camp have not gone down well with stakeholders. They feel these steps could go against the interests of the brand. They have also passed resolutions against such moves and fought legal battles. All this could be reflected in the election,” said a former Gokul director.

“The claims and counterclaims among the Mahayuti constituents are aimed at increasing their bargaining power. We have not spoken to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis yet, but we will have a meeting soon to decide on seat-sharing. We will fight the election together,” said Mushrif, who is also the state’s medical education minister.

Gokul Dairy is one of the largest cooperative milk unions in the sector and is connected with around 441,000 milk producers.