Brute majority as exercised by the union government was/is also evident in the state of Maharashtra. Despite stiff opposition from dairy farmers in Kolhapur, led by Congress MLC, Satej Patil, the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government “seized” control of the lucrative Gokul dairy on November 10, yesterday.
Tens of thousands of farmers of Kolhapur and areas around —a sea of humanity —angrily joined a rally led by led by Congress MLC Satej Patil in Kolhapur on Monday, November 9, to protest the promulgation of an ordinance that allows the state government to nominate five directors to the boards of large federal cooperative societies, of whom four get voting rights. Dairy farmers from Thane, Sangli, Satara, Pune and Dharashiv participated in the protest march, titled Sangharsh Morcha, over 1.5km, alleging that the government move undermined democratic principles and the autonomy of the cooperative sector. These were visuals on social media that reflected rural Maharashtra’s outrage against the brazen attempt by the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government to seize control over this dairy that has 5.5 lakh farmers associated with it (with at least five-and-half-thousand minor cooperatives linked to Gokul).
Monday’s rally had participants, which included women farmers, arrived in bullock carts and brought buffaloes, horses and other animals. Banners alleging “vote and power theft” were erected at multiple locations. Former MP Raju Shetti, Kolhapur MP Shahu Chhatrapati, Sangli MP Vishal Patil, MP Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, MLAs Jayant Patil and Vishwajeet Kadam, and MPSC student activist Vivekanand Patil joined the march. Many elected representatives from local bodies and cooperative institutions were also present.
However, the very next day, a controversial decision of the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, that had first directed elections of the 25 members later (vacation bench) refused to stay the hastily changed rules dated November 4 that granted the MahaYuti the majority! Later this month, the Bombay high court is slated to hear a petition by the Congress-led panel for quashing the controversial amendment. As mentioned above, in its hearing on November 9, the court had refused to stay the election. However, the court has said that the results of the elections would be subject to the court’s final decision on the matter and had asked Gokul officials to keep the ballots of the elected directors and the government-nominated directors separate.
Former legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Rajesh Patil, representing a Mahayuti-backed panel, was elected as the chairperson, defeating the Congress-led panel’s Shashikant Patil-Chuyekar. Thereafter, the newly elected chairman of the Kolhapur District Milk Producers’ Union (Gokul) and former MLA Rajesh Patil pays floral tribute to the statue of Gokul founder Anandrao Patil-Chuyekar, in Kolhapur on November 10, 2026. The board of Gokul, Maharashtra’s largest milk-producing co-operative, saw a Mahayuti-backed member being elected its chairperson on Tuesday (November 10), days after the Maharashtra government allowed four nominated members to vote, thereby upturning a Congress-led panel’s victory in elections held last month. Rajesh Patil bagged 16 votes, whereas Patil-Chuyekar bagged 13 votes.
The dairy is Maharashtra’s largest milk co-operative – with a turnover of over Rs 5,000 crore – and works with more than 8,400 milk societies and nearly five and a half lakh milk producers in the crucial western Maharashtra region. Control over Gokul allows political leaders to be in direct contact with lakhs of families, and also allows them to wield considerable financial influence over their lives through the disbursal of payments to them.
The election to the 25-member board of directors was held on October 19 and saw the Congress-led panel, led by Congress MLC Satej Patil, bagging a narrow victory over the Mahayuti panel, bagging 13 votes to the Mahayuti panel’s 12 votes.
However, two weeks after the elections, the Devendra Fadnavis government on November 4 promulgated an ordinance nominating five members to the boards of major co-operative institutions like Gokul and giving four of the five nominated members the right to vote in the chairperson’s election.
The move garnered heavy flak – Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi said the move was a “theft of milk producers’ votes”, whereas Cockroach Janta Party chief Abhijeet Dipke alleged that Fadnavis was attempting a “hostile takeover” of Gokul. Satej Patil criticised the decision and said it would make elections redundant.
“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,” he had said. Reported the Indian Express.
Satej Patil had also organised a protest in Kolhapur on Monday (November 9), which saw tens of thousands of protesters march on the streets of the city.
The move for this brazen change of rules had even been opposed even by former Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai who, in a legal opinion offered to the Congress-led panel’s advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavale, reportedly said such a move was not “sustainable on the ground that such an action would be hit by the doctrine of manifest arbitrariness and would amount to colourable exercise of powers.”
Ganbavale submitted Gavai’s opinion to the Fadnavis government. Despite this, the very next day, the Fadnavis government approved an amendment in the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, allowing government-nominated and designated directors to vote in the elections of a chairperson or other members.
It was this hastily crafter move that tilted the scales in favour of the Mahayuti panel’s candidate and, as was widely expected, Tuesday’s election saw Patil bagging 16 votes and registering a victory, even though the original election results had seen the Congress-panel emerging victorious. Fadnavis had defended the amendment, pointing to the lack of a quorum in a meeting held on October 29 to elect a chairperson. The Mahayuti directors had abstained from the meeting, thereby preventing the meeting from reaching the quorum of 14 directors.
“One side had won 13 seats and the other 12 seats. Therefore, the quorum required for the meeting was not being met. The meeting had to be cancelled twice due to a lack of quorum. If the meeting had been cancelled for the third time due to a lack of quorum, the election itself would have been cancelled. That is why the government took the decision,” Fadnavis had posted on ‘X’, in response to Gandhi’s criticism.
However, Congress leaders have rejected Fadnavis’s explanation, pointing to the fact that the Mahayuti directors could have been asked to remain present for the board meeting, instead of abstaining. This, they said, would have ensured adequate quorum for the meeting to take place.
Why Gokul maters and could be a predecessor in other ‘take-overs’
Every day, twice a day, they together collect and distribute milk that results in come worth Rs 1 crore approximately every eight days and close to Rs 5,000 crores annually. This attempt by Fadnavis to seize control is being viewed as a devious route to capturing control of both this sector and its rich earnings. The entire economy of Kolhapur rests on this and is at the centre of the economic structure of the district.
Critiques recall how prior to 2023 state elections in Karnataka and a crude bid to “replace” the popular local dairy brand of Nandini (also a cooperative structure) by the Gujarat-run Amul (National Dairy Development Board, Anand).
Watch this 2023 Video on the issue here
As senior journalist, Niranjan Takle –also an independent youtuber states (at 28.40 minutes) in this interview with Bushra Khanam, it is only under the Narendra Modi government that a ‘Co-Operative Minustry’ was created or brought into the Union Ministry and Amit Shah, Home Minister given the portfolio. Takle also points out that Gyanesh Kumar, the controversial Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was previously Secretary under Shah to this Ministry and, during this tenure worked with the Gujarat (Anand)-based NDDB to “expand rural dairy infrastructure” across states. For critiques including Takle this is a sign that the move of the MahaYuti government is first to gain control over a lucrative economic base that currently is “owned” by farmers of Kolhapur and second, to give economic control and advantage (away from Maharashtra’s farmers) to Gujarat!
As senior journalist, Niranjan Takle –also an independent youtuber states (at 28.40 minutes) in this interview with Bushra Khanam, it is only under the Narendra Modi government that a ‘Co-Operative Minustry’ was created or brought into the Union Ministry and Amit Shah, Home Minister given the portfolio. Takle also points out that Gyanesh Kumar, the controversial Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was previously Secretary under Shah to this Ministry and, during this tenure worked with the Gujarat (Anand)-based NDDB to “expand rural dairy infrastructure” across states. For critiques including Takle this is a sign that the move of the MahaYuti government is first to gain control over a lucrative economic base that currently is “owned” by farmers of Kolhapur and second, to give economic control and advantage (away from Maharashtra’s farmers) to Gujarat!
The Video (in Hindi) may be viewed here.
Why Gokul is key
Gokul dairy is the state’s largest milk producers’ co-operative, and collects over 17 lakh litres of milk from nearly five lakh milk producers every day. While most of the producers are based in and around Kolhapur district, Gokul’s distribution is spread across Maharashtra, as well as parts of Karnataka and Goa.
Controlling Gokul allows political leaders to exert influence over lakhs of families across western Maharashtra. The region has traditionally been a stronghold of the Congress and the NCP. Control over Gokul will also allow the BJP to fledge its wings in the region.
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