Over 40,000 people from Kolhapur district joined ‘Sangharsh Morcha’ to district collectorate on Monday to protest govt’s ordinance allowing five nominated members in large cooperative societies, with voting rights for four
Kolhapur : More than 40,000 people from across Kolhapur district joined ‘Sangharsh Morcha’ led by Congress MLC Satej Patil to the district collectorate on Monday, protesting Maharashtra govt’s ordinance allowing five nominated members in large cooperative societies, with voting rights for four of them. There will be a change of power in the state in 2029.
Addressing the rally, Satej Patil targeted ministers Hasan Mushrif and Chandrakant Patil, declaring, “ab rann aisa hoga, phir kabhi nahi jaisa hoga” (the war will be such that there has never been one like it before, nor will there ever be one again). You have started it, we will finish it,” Patil said. “After the Gokul elections, the seeds of a change of power have been planted in Kolhapur. This change has started from the land of Kolhapur.
Shetti said the Gokul election had been conducted as per the cooperative’s bylaws and reflected the people’s mandate. MLA Jayant Patil said the ordinance granting voting rights to nominated expert directors would not have been issued if CM Devendra Fadnavis was committed to protecting democracy. He said the people’s mandate must be respected and termed voting rights for nominated directors a wrong decision.
He argued that newly appointed directors should not be allowed to vote in the chairperson election and alleged that the BJP-led alliance’s lack of understanding of the cooperative sector had kept it out of power in cooperatives. Shetti also accused govt of attempting to shift Maharashtra’s resources and assets to Gujarat, citing Nashik water and the elephant Madhuri from Nandani.
I was fighting for the welfare of 5.5 lakh farmers, while the opposition was struggling to get its own sons and daughters elected. Because of Mushrif and Chandrakant Patil, the decision to appoint four nominated directors was taken only.
He said, “This Sangharsh Morcha is not limited to Kolhapur only, but has become the concern of the entire Maharashtra. Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj laid the foundation of cooperation a hundred years ago. This is their big conspiracy to end democracy.”
Today, however, those governing the state have committed the sin of trampling the law of cooperation in the land of Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj.