PUNE: Long-time political rivals Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Balasaheb Thorat are set to work together to avoid a contest for the 21-member board of the cash-rich Ahilyanagar District Central Cooperative (ADCC) Bank, with leaders across the political divide seeking consensus on seat-sharing.
Thorat chaired a meeting on Sunday attended by more than a dozen senior leaders from the Mahayuti and MVA, including MLAs and MLCs. Sujay Vikhe Patil, former Ahilyanagar BJP MP and son of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, was also present.
The nomination process for the election began on Sunday and will continue until October 5, while polling is scheduled for November 2.
“There is a need to evolve a consensus among all political parties to avoid elections in ADCC Bank since the state has been hit by drought. All leaders present at the meeting felt that all 21 candidates should be selected by consensus,” Sujay said.
BJP MLC Vivek Kolhe of Kopargaon and Congress MLA Hemant Ogale of Shrirampur, who attended the meeting, said Thorat would consult other leaders before deciding the number of seats to be allotted to different parties.
“The cooperative sector in Ahilyanagar is strong and there is no place for politics in the ADCC Bank polls. I do not apprehend any squabbles among political parties over the number of seats. It will be done amicably. In the last ADCC Bank elections too, there was consensus on 17 seats. This time, our effort is to ensure that all 21 seats are uncontested,” Kolhe said.
{{/usCountry}}“The cooperative sector in Ahilyanagar is strong and there is no place for politics in the ADCC Bank polls. I do not apprehend any squabbles among political parties over the number of seats. It will be done amicably. In the last ADCC Bank elections too, there was consensus on 17 seats. This time, our effort is to ensure that all 21 seats are uncontested,” Kolhe said.
{{/usCountry}}Vikhe Patil and Thorat have been political rivals for decades. In the 2024 assembly elections, Vikhe Patil campaigned against Thorat in Sangamner, where Thorat was defeated.
Such cross-party understandings are not unprecedented in cooperative bank elections. In July, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve contested the Sambhajinagar district cooperative bank elections separately from the MVA, joining hands with political rivals. Danve won the election, while most MVA candidates were defeated. He had maintained that cooperative bank elections should not be equated with Lok Sabha or assembly polls.
District cooperative bank elections are not contested on party symbols. Political parties and groups form panels, while representatives of primary agricultural credit societies vote to elect directors.
A senior Ahilyanagar BJP leader said political groups seek control of cooperative banks because of their role in extending credit to farmers and their links with the district’s sugar sector.
The ADCC Bank has an annual turnover of around ₹12,000 crore and a net profit of more than ₹65 crore.
Cooperative sector veteran Omprakash Koyte, popularly known as Kaka Koyte, welcomed the attempt to avoid an election.
“Both money and time will be saved if elections are avoided. My only request to the new board is that it should not focus only on the district’s sugar mills and their stakeholders,” he said.
Koyte alleged that the bank’s directors had in the past neglected cooperative credit societies, despite their contribution accounting for more than 30% of the bank’s total deposits in a financial year.