Gokul chairman poll: CM says quorum is a must, Satej Patil says not required

Even as the Shiv Sena — a key ally in the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra — criticised the “power play” in the name of Kolhapur’s Gokul Dairy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the decision of nominating five directors to the dairy board was taken with the consent of Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar. The Chief Minister also emphasised that quorum was mandatory for the election of the chairman of Gokul, which was contested by Congress MLC Satej Patil whose panel had won the dairy board poll.

​Speaking to reporters in Nagpur on Saturday, Fadnavis said, “When the decision regarding Gokul was made, the BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP, and Jan Surajya Party jointly highlighted the statutory deadlock in Gokul. Following discussions with the Advocate General and the Law & Judiciary Department, a proposal was drafted. That proposal came after thorough discussions between Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Sunetra Pawar, and myself. The decision was taken by the government as a collective body, so there is no question of any party being pleased or displeased.”

Stating that the state government has no intention of forcibly grabbing power at Gokul, Fadnavis said. “Since neither sides has enough votes to fulfill the quorum and elect the chairman, this decision (of nominating directors) was taken to meet the quorum requirement.

Therefore, the perception that the state government wants to take over Gokul is incorrect. The Gokul election is limited to a single district. Gokul’s influence is restricted to a few talukas, so it is not as if the state government is eager to control one institution. The state government has no need to do this.”

Asking both Mahayuti panel and the Satej Patil-led panel to resolve the issue among themselves, the Chief Minister said, “If both factions sit together and resolve the issue, the nomination of directors won’t be necessary. If Satej Patil’s and Hasan Mushrif’s groups sit together and make a decision, the government will not send anyone. The government only has to fulfill its statutory responsibility,” Fadnavis clarified.

The Chief Minister said the issue related to the quorum for electing the chairman. “If the quorum is not present, the chairperson cannot be elected. If one faction boycotts or remains absent, the election cannot take place. On the day of the chairperson’s election, one group was absent, so the election did not occur. When the case went to court, the court directed that the election be held on the 10th. However, the court did not order the election to proceed without a quorum if one is not formed on the 10th.

Therefore, the election will not be possible without it. Looking at Gokul’s laws and regulations, if the election fails three times in this manner, all powers will revert to the District Deputy Registrar (DDR), meaning elected members will lose their authority. To ensure a quorum is met and the chairperson can be elected, this law was implemented to grant voting rights to a few people.”

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Responding to Chief Minister’s contention that quorum is required for chairman’s poll, Satej Patil said, “The Chief Minister has raised a statutory issue regarding the quorum. However, our position is that a quorum is not required for the election of the Chairman, and we have stated the same in court as well. If the CM contends that there is a by-law regarding a quorum for the election, then a quorum of 13 members exists and is already present.. If the CM’s claim is that it is not present, then instead of enacting a law to grant voting rights to additional directors, why did he not pass a law to repeal the rule regarding the quorum?”

​In the Gokul election, Patil said the voters gave a majority by electing 13 candidates of their like-minded alliance.

“Now, the 12 directors elected from Mahayuti should attend the meeting on November 10th and facilitate the path for Shashikant Patil—son of the architect of Gokul, the late Anandrao Patil Chuyekar—to become the Chairman.This will certainly uphold democracy and strengthen people’s faith in democracy. Furthermore, over the next five years, all 25 elected directors will work together to ensure justice for 5.5 lakh milk-producing farmers.”