Milking power: On the overturning of Gokul Dairy cooperative mandate
The Hindu - Editorial · Published 12 November 2026 · Last updated
The executive promulgation of an ordinance amending the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act to alter board majorities in Gokul Dairy raises critical governance issues regarding state interference in democratic cooperative mandates.
Key points
- On November 4, the BJP government in Maharashtra approved changing the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act through an ordinance, which the Governor promulgated on November 6.
- The immediate effect of the ordinance was facilitating the takeover of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul Dairy, by the BJP and its allies.
- A Congress-backed panel named Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samvichari Aghadi, led by Satej Patil, won 13 of the 25 elected seats on the board of the cooperative on October 19.
- Gokul Dairy has an annual turnover of around ₹4,000 crore and is linked to several lakh milk producers in western Maharashtra.
- On October 29, the election of the chairman was deadlocked after BJP-allied members did not participate, resulting in a failure to meet the required quorum of 14 members.
- Directors allied to the Congress subsequently declared Shashikant Patil Chuyekar as chairman, but the administration refused to recognise the election due to unfulfilled quorum requirements.
- The ordinance amendment allowed the government to nominate five directors to certain large cooperative institutions, with four nominees receiving voting rights.
- Four members were nominated immediately to the Gokul board, allowing them to vote with the BJP and its partners to elect a chairman on November 10.
- The board tally shifted from a 13-12 member mandate in favour of the Congress alliance to 16-13 in favour of the BJP and its partners following the government nominations.
- Defeated directors approached the Bombay High Court on November 9 to restrain the government-nominated directors from voting, but the High Court did not grant that relief.
Background
- The Ministry of Cooperation was created under Home Minister Amit Shah as part of a broader objective by the BJP to assert political dominance over the cooperative sector.
- Cooperative institutions in states like Maharashtra have historically functioned as influential hubs of regional political power and agricultural rural economies.
Prelims facts and Mains angle for this issue are in the full SWAदेSH note.
Original report: The Hindu - Editorial