Ajit gets BJP to reverse co-op body decision

The decision was taken on Friday. The state government will change the amendment made in May this year in the Maharashtra Cooperatives Act, 1960 which allowed only active members to vote during the elections of a cooperative body

Mumbai:The Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction has started to show its power in the three-party coalition government in Maharashtra. The party has forced the state government to withdraw its earlier decision that limited voting rights in the cooperative bodies across the state to only active members.

On May 30, the state cabinet allowed the cooperative to determine active members who will attend annual general body meetings at least once in five years and also utilize their services once during the same period. (HT Photo)

The decision was taken on Friday. The state government will change the amendment made in May this year in the Maharashtra Cooperatives Act, 1960 which allowed only active members to vote during the elections of a cooperative body.

The move in May, which overturned an earlier MVA government decision, was seen as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to gain control over the cooperation sector that has been the backbone of the rural economy and has been dominated by the Congress and NCP for decades.

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction joined the coalition government in July this year. The party also has taken over the cooperation portfolio that was previously with the BJP as part of the power sharing formula. Soon after taking over the reins of the department, senior NCP leader and state cooperation minister Dilip Walse Patil requested the speaker Rahul Narvekar not to schedule the bill in the state assembly that would have converted the ordinance promulgated by the state government and brought the amendments into effect. The monsoon session of the state legislature concluded recently.

On May 30, the state cabinet allowed the cooperative to determine active members who will attend annual general body meetings at least once in five years and also utilize their services once during the same period.

The NCP that was in the Opposition at that time was fuming over the decision and party chief Sharad Pawar had called Anoop Kumar, the then additional chief secretary, cooperation department, to express his displeasure over the move.

State cooperation minister Dilip Walse Patil said they want everyone to get a chance to vote as members of the cooperative bodies. “We want free and fair elections and all the members should get a chance to vote,” he said.

This was not the first time when the same provision was introduced and canceled. In 2016, then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis brought the provision to distinguish between active and inactive members and only active members should get the voting rights. The provision was overturned by the erstwhile MVA government on March 22, 2022.