Rahul Gandhi calls BJP’s Gokul move ‘theft of votes’

• Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of seeking to overturn the Gokul milk union election result through government-appointed directors

• Maharashtra’s cabinet approved a legal amendment allowing five nominees, including four with voting rights, on eligible large cooperative boards

• The Congress-led panel won 13 of Gokul’s 25 elected seats; opposition leaders have announced legal challenges ahead of the chairman’s election on 10 November

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the BJP of attempting to wrest control of Maharashtra’s Gokul milk union by changing the cooperative law after the Congress-led panel secured a narrow majority in its board election.

The criticism followed the Maharashtra cabinet’s approval on Wednesday of an amendment allowing the government to appoint five directors, four with voting rights, to certain large cooperative societies receiving state assistance.

At the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul, the Congress-led panel headed by Satej Patil won 13 of the 25 elected seats on 19 October. The BJP-led Mahayuti panel secured 12.

The proposed appointments could change that balance ahead of the chairman’s election scheduled for 10 November under a Bombay High Court direction. If all four voting nominees support the Mahayuti-backed directors, their combined strength would rise to 16 against the Congress-led panel’s 13.

Rahul Gandhi described the proposal as an attempt to reverse the verdict delivered by milk producers.

“This is theft of the milk producers’ votes — adulteration in the mandate,” he wrote on X.

He accused the BJP of changing the rules after losing the election and warned that farmers would remember the move.

What the amendment proposes

The cabinet, chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, approved a proposal to amend Section 73AA(2) of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, through an ordinance.

The provision would apply to cooperative societies with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 500 crore that receive government assistance in the form of funds, land, loans or guarantees. District Central Cooperative Banks would be exempt.

Of the five government nominees, one would be an official of assistant registrar rank or above without voting rights. The other four would be industry experts entitled to vote at board meetings but barred from contesting office-bearer positions.

Under the existing arrangement described by officials, large cooperatives co-opt two directors and have two government nominees.

Government officials defended the proposed change as a way to bring professional expertise to major cooperative institutions, strengthen oversight and safeguard public funds.

They also said the provision would help resolve meeting deadlocks, ensure quorum and avoid situations requiring elected boards to be replaced by administrators.

The immediate political significance lies in Gokul’s closely divided board.

Its chairman’s election could not proceed on 29 October after Mahayuti-backed directors stayed away. With only the Congress-led panel’s 13 directors present, the meeting fell short of the required quorum of 14.

The Bombay High Court subsequently directed that a fresh election be held on 10 November.

Congress leader Pawan Khera accused the state government of using legislative changes to alter the composition of an elected board rather than allowing the result to determine control of the institution.

He said the party was challenging the decision in the Supreme Court to defend the milk producers’ mandate and the autonomy of cooperative bodies.

Patil separately said he would contest the decision in the Bombay High Court. He argued that appointing government nominees after an election undermined the purpose of holding one.

“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,” Patil said.

Established in 1963, Gokul is among Maharashtra’s largest cooperative dairy institutions and an influential centre of rural politics in Kolhapur.

It connects approximately 4.41 lakh milk producers through 8,009 village-level primary societies across nearly 1,810 villages.

The union reported a turnover of Rs 3,966.28 crore in 2024–25. Its extensive producer network and economic reach have made control of its board a closely contested political prize.

With agency inputs