Gokul dairy row: Setback for Congress on chairman election eve, Bombay HC refuses ordinance stay | Political Pulse News
Thousands of milk farmers protested in Kolhapur on Monday, November 9, days after the Maharashtra government gave voting rights to four government-nominated directors on the Gokul dairy board. The decision – upheld earlier today by the Bombay High Court (HC) – could overturn the outcome of last month’s elections and hand control of the state’s largest milk cooperative, Kolhapur Zilla Sahakari Dudh Utpadak Sangh Maryadit, to the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
In last month’s elections, a panel led by Congress MLC Satej Patil won 13 of the 25 elected director seats, defeating the Mahayuti-backed panel, which secured 12. Shortly after, the Mahayuti-led government decided to appoint four directors with voting rights, turning around the arithmetic and potentially shifting control of the cooperative.
If the four nominees vote with the Mahayuti-backed directors, the ruling alliance will have 16 votes against Patil’s 13.
The chairman’s election is scheduled to be held in Kolhapur on Tuesday, November 10, with all 29 directors, including the four government nominees, eligible to vote. The government has decided to apply the ordinance to the existing board despite opposition to its retrospective implementation.
‘Ulterior motive’: Congress vs Mahayuti
On November 2, a bench led by Justice Abhay Ahuja, while hearing a separate petition filed by Satej Patil’s panel, directed that a fresh meeting be convened on November 10 after issuing notices to all 25 elected directors.
On November 6, the state government promulgated the ordinance, prompting the petitioners to challenge it.
Rejecting the plea for interim relief on Monday, Justice Neeraj P Dhote, presiding over the vacation bench, said the government’s actions, including the ordinance, would depend on the outcome of the pending writ petition.
“In my view, no case for interim protection or stay of the impugned ordinance exists. Resultantly, the prayer for an interim order/stay is rejected,” the court held.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, along with advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavale, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the ordinance was a colourable exercise of power, alleging that it had been issued with an ulterior motive to alter the outcome of the Gokul elections. They also sought a stay on what they described as a patently arbitrary decision.
Representing the state, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and government pleader Neha Bhide, along with senior advocates Anil Anturkar and Anil Sakhare for the Mahayuti-backed directors, opposed the pleas, arguing that the ordinance had been issued in accordance with the law.
The court left it open to the parties to approach the regular bench and directed the election officer to preserve the proceedings, ballot papers and other relevant documents.
It also ordered that after the counting, the ballot papers of the 25 elected directors and four government-nominated directors be kept separately, as the validity of the ordinance remains under challenge.
Congress, NCP (SP) protest; thousands join
Meanwhile, Patil led a march from Dasara Chowk to the Kolhapur Collector’s office on Monday, drawing thousands of farmers and political leaders from western Maharashtra.
Among those who joined the protest were farmer leader Raju Shetti, Congress MLA Vishwajeet Kadam, Lok Sabha MPs Vishal Patil and Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, and NCP (SP) MLA Jayant Patil. NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule also extended support to the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Patil alleged that the decision to appoint four government directors was taken after the Mahayuti-backed panel lost the election.
He also publicly named the four proposed nominees – Shivaji Adnaik from Panhala, Dr Pravinchandra Hendre, a gynaecologist, Krishnat Patil from Kagal, and advocate Prashant Patole from Sangli – and questioned their appointment.
“How many of them actually own buffaloes, who knows?” Patil asked.
