Defeated in election, ruling alliance pushes Cabinet move to take control of Rs 4,000-crore Gokul milk cooperative | Political Pulse News
Last month, Congress leader Satej Patil took on two Cabinet ministers, two MPs and 10 MLAs of Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance and defeated them in the election to Kolhapur’s Gokul milk cooperative. On Wednesday, however, the state Cabinet approved a proposal that could fundamentally alter the balance of power in the cooperative, giving the government the power to appoint five directors to its board, four of them with voting rights.
The decision marks a significant escalation in the battle for control of one of Maharashtra’s most influential cooperative institutions. Having failed to dislodge Patil’s panel through the October 19 election, the ruling alliance could now gain a foothold through changes to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act.
Under the proposal approved by the Cabinet, the government can appoint four expert directors and one officer of the rank of Deputy Registrar to the boards of apex cooperative institutions such as Gokul. While the four expert directors will have voting rights, they will not be eligible to contest the election for chairperson. The provision will not apply to district cooperative banks.
The move comes amid a continuing standoff over the election of Gokul’s chairman. Patil’s Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samvichari Aghadi won 13 of the 25 seats in the cooperative, against 12 secured by the Mahayuti-backed panel. However, the 12 directors from the ruling alliance have stayed away from the board meeting to elect the chairman, denying Patil’s panel the 14 members required for a quorum.
The Cabinet decision potentially gives the Mahayuti a way to influence the board’s composition despite its electoral defeat. Patil has announced that he will challenge the government’s decision in the Bombay High Court, accusing it of attempting to undermine the mandate of milk producers.
Why Gokul matters
Established on March 16, 1963, the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul after its most popular brand, is among Maharashtra’s largest dairy cooperatives.
Its influence extends beyond its annual turnover of nearly Rs 4,000 crore in 2024 25. Gokul is connected to nearly 4.41 lakh milk producers through 8,009 village-level primary societies spread across an estimated 1,810 villages.
Political commentator Vasant Bhosle has pointed out that the cooperative’s importance lies in its close connection with marginal farmers and rural households. Milk payments are directly deposited into the bank accounts of women producers, providing them with an important source of household income.
Control over Gokul therefore offers political influence extending deep into the rural economy of Kolhapur and neighbouring regions.
Why the BJP wants Gokul
For nearly three decades, a panel associated with former MLA Mahadevrao Mahadik and the late Congress MLA P N Patil controlled Gokul. In May 2021, a panel led by Satej Patil, Hasan Mushrif of the undivided Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Mandlik wrested control from them.
The political equations changed after the Shiv Sena and NCP split. Mushrif joined the BJP-led Mahayuti but initially continued working with Patil in the cooperative sector. That arrangement eventually broke down, bringing the two former allies into opposing camps.
For the BJP, gaining control of Gokul is part of its larger effort to expand its footprint in western Maharashtra, where Congress and NCP leaders have traditionally exercised considerable influence through cooperative institutions.
In June, The Indian Express reported that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had intervened to bring Mahayuti constituents together for the Gokul election. The alliance fielded a common panel backed by ministers, legislators and MPs, with Mushrif, the Medical Education Minister, leading the campaign.
The ruling alliance was confident of winning. Instead, Patil’s panel defeated it, including Mushrif’s son Navid and incumbent chairman Shoumika Mahadik, wife of BJP leader Dhananjay Mahadik.
For Patil, the victory reinforced his position as one of the most influential political figures in Kolhapur. A former minister and Congress MLC, he has built his political base through local elections and cooperative institutions, frequently taking on the Mahadik family, one of the region’s prominent political and business families.
His victory also offered the Congress a significant political gain in a district where the party failed to win a single Assembly seat in the 2024 elections.
From boycott to legislative intervention
The first confrontation after the election came on October 29, when the newly elected board met to elect its chairman. All 12 Mahayuti-backed directors stayed away. Under Gokul’s bylaws, 14 directors are required for a quorum. With only Patil’s 13 directors present, the presiding officer adjourned the meeting.
The 13 directors subsequently held a separate meeting and declared Shashikant Patil Chuyekar elected chairman. However, the dairy administration did not recognise the decision.
Patil’s panel approached the Bombay High Court’s Kolhapur Circuit Bench. On November 2, the court directed that a fresh meeting be convened on November 10, with notices issued to all 25 directors.
The Mahayuti has defended its boycott, arguing that the quorum requirement is part of Gokul’s existing bylaws and was not introduced after the election. In a joint letter to the media on November 3, leaders of the BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and Jansurajya Party said Patil should not interpret his narrow victory as an endorsement of his politics.
They argued that milk producers had elected the 12 Mahayuti directors as well and that these members could not be expected to attend a meeting merely to facilitate the election of a chairman from the opposing panel.
The legislative route
The Cabinet’s Wednesday decision follows a letter written by senior BJP minister Chandrakant Patil to Fadnavis on October 16, two days before the Gokul election.
In the letter, Chandrakant Patil had proposed increasing the number of government-appointed directors from two to four in cooperative institutions with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 3,000 crore. He had also proposed increasing institution-nominated directors from two to four, requiring amendments to the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act.
Gokul, with its turnover of nearly Rs 4,000 crore, would fall within this category.
The timing of the proposal had prompted the Opposition to allege that the government was attempting to change the composition of Gokul’s board after failing to win the election. The Cabinet’s approval of the proposal has now brought that possibility closer.
On Wednesday, reacting to the government’s decision, Satej Patil criticised the state Cabinet’s move, calling it unfortunate. “If the government’s policy is to disregard the people’s mandate and take decisions according to its own wishes, then there is no point in holding elections. It would be better to cancel all elections, appoint government nominees and let them run sugar factories, spinning mills and municipal corporations.”
The next chapter in this saga is the November 10 board meeting to elect Gokul’s chairman.
