Satej Patil claims support of 1,851 delegates for Gokul poll, gets Shetti’s backing

Kolhapur: Congress MLC Satej Patil, the convenor of Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Panel, has claimed the support of 1,851 primary milk collection societies across Kolhapur district ahead of the election to the Kolhapur Zilla Dudh Utpadak Sangh (Gokul Dairy).The cooperative, one of the largest in the region, has an annual turnover of around Rs 3,000 crore from milk procurement and sale of dairy byproducts.The election to the Gokul Dairy board, held every five years, is scheduled in the next two months. Election authorities have already sent prescribed forms to delegate representatives of primary cooperative societies for submission. Mahayuti has claimed the backing of nearly 4,000 delegates.Political attention has been focused on Patil, who was part of the winning panel in the previous election with leaders like Hasan Mushrif, Arun Narke, Vinay Kore and Prakash Abitkar. All of them are now aligned with Mahayuti, leaving Patil to chart his course independently.In a related development, farmers’ leader Raju Shetti has extended support to Patil’s panel. Shetti criticised Mahayuti leadership, alleging that they would not stand up for farmers if challenges arose in the dairy sector.

He said many cooperative milk dairies were already struggling or had shut down in recent years, with only a few like Gokul still functioning strongly.“If dairies turn into corporate entities, farmers will be at the mercy of corporates and lose their say. Will Mahayuti members question govt if it adopts anti-farmer policies?” Shetti asked, adding that a truly farmer-friendly leadership would have prevented the imposition of administrator rule in the dairy sector.Patil, meanwhile, accused Mahayuti members of attempting to influence delegates through financial means, saying their candidates would be decided by politicians in Mumbai rather than local farmers. He said candidates in his panel would be chosen by farmers from Kolhapur. “Our panel is committed to ensuring better milk prices for farmers and cutting unnecessary expenses. We will also reduce cattle feed prices by Rs 100 per bag to ease the financial burden on farmers and help them live with dignity,” Patil said.Patil said he had support of 1,851 delegates, accusing Mahayuti of inflating numbers.