During a press conference in Mumbai, Satej Patil strongly criticized the decision of the cabinet led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Taking a tough stance, he announced that he would take to the streets for 'Gokul'. He announced a massive protest from Dussehra Chowk to Kolhapur District Collectorate on 9 November.
With this, the controversy regarding the election of the president of 'Gokul' has deepened. Out of total 25 seats of the board, 13 seats are with Satej Patil's 'Samvichari Aghadi', while 12 seats are with 'Mahayuti'. However, no party alone has the quorum of 14 directors required to elect the chairman.
Giving voting rights to four directors appointed by the state government has paved the way for 'Mahayuti' to establish its control over the board. The file of this proposal has been sent to the Governor for signature and a gazette notification for this is expected to be issued soon.
Expressing displeasure over this step, Satej Patil raised questions on the intentions of Devendra Fadnavis government.
He said that just because the election results were not in your favor, you are changing the law. If changes had to be made in the law, it should have been done before the elections. They are claiming that they are appointing 'expert' directors, when these are the same people who were rejected by the voters. If he was really an expert then why would the public defeat him? Our legal fight against this will continue.
Patil alleged that the 'Mahayuti' government was making changes in the law because the election results were not in their favor.
He said any change in the law should have been made before the elections. The government is bringing in such people as 'expert' directors, who were clearly rejected by the voters. If he really had expertise then why would the voters defeat him? This is a well-planned conspiracy to hand over 'Gokul' to 'Amul'. The government is actively working to dismantle the democratic structure of the state.
On a question asked about his friendship with Minister Hasan Mushrif, he said that the Minister has cheated and he has come through the back door. He told that similarly directors were appointed in Amul also, but the High Court rightly rejected it. He said that in the case of Gokul, the general public and milk producers have completely rejected the Mahayuti.
Patil said that the Vajpayee government had fallen by just one vote. Today, the same decisive one-vote margin is in our favour. Ignoring the people's mandate means making the people's votes completely meaningless. If this continues then governments can grab power by appointing nominated members in municipal corporations too.
He said that Rahul Gandhi had spread awareness about 'vote theft' across the country. Now, this government is outright 'stealing power'. In protest against this, we will take out a protest march from Dussehra Chowk to Kolhapur District Collectorate on 9th November.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that Gokul and milk producers had defeated BJP, hence BJP changed the rules after the elections. Brought in 4 new directors, reduced 12 to 16 and stole the majority.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Kheda alleged that the Maharashtra government is shamelessly trying to subvert the democratic mandate of milk producers in the Gokul Milk Federation. For this they are manipulating the structure of an elected board by resorting to legal changes.
Kheda said that the big question is whether a government can change the rules after the elections just because it did not like the results? We are challenging this decision in the Supreme Court to protect the democratic mandate and autonomy of cooperative institutions.