Satej Patil-backed panel wins Gokul Milk Union elections, Mahayuti suffers setback

The election witnessed an exceptionally high turnout, with 5,416 of the 5,418 eligible voters casting their ballots on Sunday, recording nearly 100% turnout

The Congress leader Satej Patil backed Samavichari panel emerged victorious in the election to the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, popularly known as Gokul Milk Union elections, dealing a setback to the Mahayuti-backed panel led by minister Hasan Mushrif.

Polling was held across 35 heavily guarded booths in Kolhapur district, with 50 candidates from the two panels contesting the election. (HT)

The election witnessed an exceptionally high turnout, with 5,416 of the 5,418 eligible voters casting their ballots on Sunday, recording nearly 100% turnout. Polling was held across 35 heavily guarded booths in Kolhapur district, with 50 candidates from the two panels contesting the election.

The Samavichari panel won 13 seats, while the Mahayuti-backed panel won 12 seats, according to the results. Among those who tasted defeat were Hasan Mushrif’s son and ex-chairman of the cooperative Navid, dealing a blow to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. Shoumika Mahadik, wife of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dhananjay Mahadik, also suffered a setback.

“The milk producers who are members of Gokur dairy have given a mandate to us as they want this cooperative to be run by people of Kolhapur and not by those sitting in Mumbai,” Patil said, indicating that the Mahayuti candidates were finalised in Mumbai.

He alleged that counting officials deliberately declared around 98 votes invalid.

“Had there been no invalid votes, six more candidates from our panel would have won the polls,” said Patil.

Mushrif said, “We accept the verdict delivered by milk-producing farmer-members in the Gokul Milk Union elections. The infighting within the Mahayuti alliance that continued until the last moment, followed by the alliance coming together, may not have gone down well with voters. The number of invalid votes was also significant.”

The contest between the Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi, led by Patil, and the Mahayuti-backed Chhatrapati Shahu Shetkari Vikas Aghadi, led by Mushrif, had become a prestige battle for the political leadership in western Maharashtra.

The outcome assumes significance as Mahayuti leaders sought to consolidate their support by contesting the election under a common banner. Patil, who was part of the winning panel in the previous election, fielded a separate panel this time after being left out of the alliance’s arrangement for the polls.

The election also drew attention because of Gokul’s importance to the region’s cooperative sector and dairy economy. The federation is a major player in milk procurement and the sale of dairy products, with its operations closely linked to the livelihoods of milk producers across Kolhapur district.

During the campaign, Patil’s panel promised to increase daily milk collection from 20 lakh litres to 30 lakh litres, raise procurement prices by ₹5 per litre for buffalo milk and ₹2 per litre for cow milk, and reduce cattle-feed prices by ₹100 per sack in its first month if elected.