Govt also said it wanted to prevent inconvenience to farmers and others affected by drought
All district central cooperative banks, which are considered the financial power centres of taluka and district politics, were scheduled to go to the polls, as were around 5,000 cooperative societies, like cooperative sugar factories, credit unions, cooperative banks, spinning mills, market committees and marketing associations. Last week, Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi, backed by Congress MLC Satej Patil , won the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Federation polls with 13 seats, defeating the Mahayuti-supported Chhatrapati Shahu Shetkari Vikas Aghadi, led by senior NCP minister Hasan Mushrif, which secured 12 seats.
Also, it is likely that it will be inconvenient for farmers and members of the drought-affected areas to participate in the election process of cooperative societies at the present time,” it said. The state had seen feverish preparations for these elections over the past few months. “For this, additional administrative responsibility has been created on the revenue, agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperation, rural development, water supply, water conservation and other related departments. In such a situation, if the election process of cooperative societies in these talukas is continued, there is a possibility that govt officials/employees will get involved in the election process, which is likely to affect the drought relief work.