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Satej Patil rejects Mushrif’s proposal to end Gokul chairman deadlock
“Patil should come up with a formula on how to end the stalemate so that the chairman is elected and Gokul functions smoothly,” minister Hassan Mushrif said.
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PUNE:
Congress MLC Satej Patil has rejected a proposal by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) cabinet minister Hassan Mushrif to break the deadlock over the election of the chairman of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul.
Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur on Friday, Mushrif said that the Mahayuti had never prevented Patil from taking a decision on the appointment of a new chairman to Gokul’s board of directors.
“Patil should come up with a formula on how to end the stalemate so that the chairman is elected and Gokul functions smoothly,” Mushrif said.
When contacted by Hindustan Times, Patil declined to comment on Mushrif’s proposal. However, sources close to the Congress leader said that he is ‘not at all interested’ in the suggestion.
“It is a political ploy by Mushrif to create confusion among members of the Patil-led panel who have won the elections. Patil has already approached the Kolhapur bench of the Bombay high court (HC), which has directed that a fresh meeting of all 25 elected directors be convened on November 10 to elect the new chairman. The court will also hear the matter on November 11,” the sources said.
The court has directed that notices for the November 10 meeting be issued only to the 25 elected directors.
The deadlock stems from a power struggle between the ruling Mahayuti and the Congress to control Gokul’s management by securing the chairperson’s post.
In the 25-member board, the Patil-led panel won 13 seats. However, the 12 directors from the Mahayuti-backed panel abstained from the October 29 meeting convened to elect the chairman. With the mandatory quorum of 14 directors not being met, the meeting was postponed.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, allowing the government to nominate five members to the boards of cooperative societies with an annual turnover exceeding ₹500 crore, including Gokul. Furthermore, four of the five nominees will have voting rights in the election of the chairperson.
Patil accused the ruling Mahayuti of attempting to take control of Gokul’s management by nominating government representatives with voting rights. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also criticised the state government’s decision to nominate directors to the milk union.
Mushrif, however, defended the cabinet’s decision, saying that the nominations are intended to break the deadlock following the election results. He argued that the mandate of the milk producers is clear: the Mahayuti-backed panel is meant to sit in the Opposition.
The NCP minister also said that under the rules, if the quorum is not met at two consecutive meetings convened to elect the chairman, the state government has to appoint an administrator to run the union.
