Mumbai, Nov 10 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said he stood by the Gokul cooperative institution and not any individual, asserting that the controversy over appointments and the election of its chairman had taken a political turn despite the body having only 5,000 voters.
In the 25-member newly-elected board of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (Gokul Dairy), the panel led by Congress MLC Satej Patil last month secured a narrow majority by winning 13 seats, pushing the Mahayuti-backed panel into the minority with 12 seats.
However, the BJP-led Mahayuti government last week passed an ordinance and nominated four additional directors with voting rights, a move that raised eyebrows among the Opposition political parties.
Despite objections to the ordinance’s retrospective application, the government decided that all 29 directors, including the four nominees, would be eligible to vote in the chairman election, scheduled for Tuesday.
"I am supporting the institution, not any individual. I am not behind any particular person," Fadnavis said to a question on the controversy while speaking to reporters at a Diwali gathering hosted by him at his official residence, Varsha, in Mumbai.
Explaining the legal complications surrounding the Gokul Dairy cooperative, the CM said one group had 13 members and another 12, while 14 members were required to constitute a quorum.
Neither group could independently meet the quorum requirement or elect a chairman on its own strength, he noted.
Fadnavis said the government could have taken control of the institution immediately after the elections if it had intended to do so, adding that it had sufficient time to appoint directors and assume control.
The government appointed four members after it became clear that Gokul could not meet the quorum requirement, he said.
The appointments were challenged before the Bombay High Court, which, he said, found no defect in the relevant legal provision but directed that the votes of the four members be kept separate until the final verdict and the election process be completed.
The matter is now sub judice, he added.
Fadnavis said he had earlier suggested that a consensus among Satej Patil, NCP minister Hasan Mushrif, and Vinay Kore of the Jan Surajya Party could resolve the issue, and that he was willing to send representatives even after the legal amendment.
However, the controversy had now acquired a political colour, he said, pointing to the involvement of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in an issue concerning only 5,000 voters.
Gokul Dairy's annual turnover is more than Rs 4,000 crore.
Fadnavis also defended the four appointed members, saying all had experience in the cooperative sector and their credentials were certified by the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies.
Responding to criticism over one appointee being a gynaecologist, he said a person's professional background should not disqualify them from working in the cooperative sector.
"The dairy business is not the only important thing; the cooperative sector itself is important," the CM said.
The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant a stay on the Maharashtra government's ordinance conferring voting rights on four nominated directors of the Gokul Dairy board, even as Opposition leaders and dairy farmers staged a massive protest in Kolhapur alleging a "blatant assault on cooperative democracy."
Hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the ordinance, the Aurangabad bench of the High Court ruled that four nominated directors will be permitted to participate and vote in the November 10 chairman election for the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (Gokul Dairy), but directed that their votes be kept in a separate ballot box.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)