HP State Co-op Bank: Campaigning in last leg; polling on Thursday

Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank’s election is underway and both political parties including the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have fielded their candidates. The election, which is slated for 4th May, will elect eight seats of the board of directors. Many new and old faces connected to the bank are making efforts to get elected to the board.

Meanwhile, the state government has nominated Lalit Kumar and Lal Singh Kaushal as the Himachal Pradesh Registrar of Cooperative Societies nominees on the board of the bank.

Out of eight directors, two have already been elected unopposed. One of them is Pawan Chauhan from Shimla (Zone-1) district and the other is the outgoing director Pitambar Singh Negi from Kinnaur district.

The outgoing Chairman of the Bank Devendra Shyam though nominated by the govt is contesting the election from the Shimla (Zone-2) district, while the BJP leader and former MLA from Sirmaur Late Jagat Singh Negi’s daughter in law Shruti Negi is fighting the election from Nahan.

Interestingly, the ruling congress party failed to manage candidates from their own cadre. As a result, from Mandi (Zone-1 and Zone-2) district, 13 candidates are in the race but only two are to be elected. The total eligible voters in Mandi Zone-1 and Zone-2 are 277.

Meanwhile, talking to the Indian Cooperative one of the candidates Manish Sharma who is contesting the election from Mandi Zone-2 said, the state party high command has put their stamp on my name and I am sure, I will win the election with good margins. “We are meeting the voters and seeking their support in the election”, he added.

It is learned that from Mandi Zone-2, five candidates are in the race. The bank’s former director and congress leader Keshav Nayak is also in the race. It is said Nayak has a strong hold in the constituencies linked to Mandi Zone 2.

In the election, two directors each from Shimla and Mandi are to be elected and one- each from Chamba, Kinnaur, Sirmour and Bilaspur.

In his comment, the outgoing Chairman Devendra Shyam said, ” The government nominated me as the Chairman of the bank a month back but still I am contesting the election. I am not seeing any heavy fight in my constituency and I will win with huge margins. We will work with the Union Ministry of Cooperation to take the cooperative movement of state to new heights”, he added.

Shyam is contesting the election from Shimla Zone-2, where only one candidate namely Sher Singh Chauhan is contesting. The total number of voters is 117.

In Sirmour, three candidates are in the race whereas from Bilaspur, six candidates are trying their luck.

Readers would recall that Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank earned a gross profit of Rs 303 crore, which is the highest ever in the history of the bank in the 2022-23 FY. The business mix of the bank crossed to more than Rs 22,700 crore.