'Adulteration In Mandate': Rahul Slams Move To Appoint Govt-Nominated Members In Gokul Dairy

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at the BJP over the Maharashtra government's decision to appoint state-nominated members to the Gokul Dairy, saying it was a theft of the milk producers' votes and "adulteration in the mandate".

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that in Gokul, milk producers defeated the BJP, and so it changed the rules after the election -- stuffing in four directors to turn its numbers from 12 into 16, stealing the majority.

"This is theft of the milk producers' votes - adulteration in the mandate," Gandhi said in his post in Hindi on X.

"The BJP has become so desperate that it's going to any lengths everywhere to save power. Those who steal the milk producers' votes, remember - farmers don't forget," Gandhi said.

He tagged the post by Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, who alleged that the Maharashtra government is brazenly attempting to subvert the democratic mandate of milk producers at the Gokul Milk Federation by using legislative changes to manipulate the composition of an elected board.

"In the 19 October elections, the Congress-led panel won 13 of 25 seats, securing a majority over the Mahayuti's 12. After Mahayuti-backed directors stalled the chairman's election by remaining absent, the Bombay High Court directed a fresh election on 10 November," he said.

Instead of allowing the elected board to function, the state Cabinet has approved a proposal to nominate four government directors with voting rights, potentially altering the electoral arithmetic and overturning the mandate of milk producers, he said.

"The larger question is whether a government can change the rules after an election simply because it does not like the result. We are challenging this decision in the Supreme Court to defend the democratic mandate and the autonomy of cooperative institutions," Khera said.

Opposition Congress and NCP (SP) in Maharashtra as well as a leader of the ruling Shiv Sena on Wednesday had criticised the state government over its decision to appoint state-nominated members to the Gokul Dairy in Kolhapur, calling the move a "murder of democracy".

The Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of five government-nominated members to the managing committees of cooperative institutions which have an annual turnover of more than Rs 500 crore, excluding district central cooperative banks. Four of the members will be entitled to vote in the board of directors.

Congress MLC Satej Patil-backed Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi won 13 of the 25 seats in the elections of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union, better known as the Gokul Dairy. The Mahayuti secured 12 seats.

However, even as days have passed since the election results, the post of its chairman is lying vacant due to absence of the required quorum of 14 directors during election meetings.

In a strongly worded social media post, Rohit Pawar alleged that the BJP had still not recovered from its defeat in the Gokul Dairy elections and was now attempting to gain control of the cooperative by appointing four government-nominated directors and granting them voting rights.