Congress-BJP broke it down over Maharashtra milk federation election result

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the BJP of being so desperate to save power. “Those stealing dairy farmers’ votes remember – farmers don’t forget.” File | Photo credit: PTI

Developments in the wake of Maharashtra’s largest milk federation elections have thrown Maharashtra state politics into turmoil. Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (November 5) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of stealing the votes of milk producers.

This comes days after Congress leader Satej Patil’s panel won 13 of the 25 seats in the Gokul Milk Federation elections, winning a slim majority against the Mahayuti panel. Now, ahead of the November 10 chairman election, the Maharashtra cabinet has approved a controversial amendment that allows the state government to appoint five nominee directors (four of whom will have voting rights) in large cooperatives with turnover exceeding ₹500 crore. This is likely to tilt the majority in favor of the Mahayutis who won 12 seats.

The Congress will now hold a protest march in Kolhapur on November 9 against the state government’s decision to appoint the director. “This is nothing but murdering democracy. This is disrespecting the voice of farmers,” said Satej Bunty Patil. He said the party will fight this battle in court and on the streets. The Congress leader has already moved the Bombay High Court in this matter.

Gokul, or the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, is one of the fiercest cooperative battles. Gokul was founded in 1963.

It has an annual turnover of around ₹4,000 crore (for 2024–25). It connects 4.41 lakh milk producers in 1810 villages through a network of 8009 cooperative societies at the village level.

Last month, 25 directors were elected to the cooperative’s board of directors for a period of five years. These directors are supposed to vote for the chairman, but the quorum for election is 14. The Satej Bunty Patil jury has 13 elected members. After his victory, the Mahayuti panel refused to attend the meeting. Since a quorum was not reached, the election of the chairman could not take place. The election is now scheduled for November 10. Earlier this week, the state cabinet passed a regulation amending the rules for appointing directors in large cooperatives.

“Taste the Gokul products one last time. The plan is to take over the brand and hand it over to Amul,” Mr Patil said while talking to reporters on Thursday (November 5).

Posted by Rahul Gandhi

On Thursday (November 5), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted on his social media link X: “In Gokul, milk producers defeated BJP. So BJP changed the rules after the election – cram in 4 districts, make 12 into 16, steal majority. This is theft of milk producer votes – rigging has grown to such an extent in the entire mandate. save power Those who steal milk producer votes, remember – don’t forget the farmers.’

Milk producers defeated BJP in Gokul. So the BJP changed the rules after the elections – cram 4 directors, make 12 16, steal the majority. That’s stealing the votes of milk producers – rigging the mandate. BJP has become so desperate that they are trying to save power everywhere to any extent. Those who stole the votes of the milk producers, remember – the farmer does not forget.

—Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 5, 2026

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi should meet on the issue, while NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar called on “all those who believe in democracy” to ‘gherao’ Gokul Dairy.

Maharashtra CM defends board appointments

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday (November 5) defended the government’s decision to appoint board members in the Gokul case. He also attacked Rahul Gandhi for his statement. “First look at the situation Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in. There are only 4,500 voters in Gokul and he has to tweet about it from Delhi,” he said.

He claimed that the state government’s decision was in accordance with the Cooperatives Act. He stated that the situation of not reaching the quorum can also occur in other large cooperatives and the government wants to solve it. “Some people feel that this decision will not stand, while others believe that it will. When this situation arose, we asked the Solicitor General for an opinion before making the decision,” he said.

Published – November 6, 2026 09:46 IST