Arun Dongale has relinquished his chairmanship of the Kolhapur district cooperative milk producers’ union aka Gokul amid factional fighting in the union. His opponents wanted him to step aside soon as his continuance as the chairman of the union was in violation of the 97th amendment of the constitution.
He had been sticking to his post for the last two years. According to sources close to the union, a new head would soon be appointed. The union is supposed to be under the wing of the Congress Party.
The appointment of the new chairman would be a tricky problem as there would be a motley of determined vested interests involved in it, said a prominent member of the union who asked his name not to be mentioned.
Gokul is one of the leading cooperative bodies in Maharashtra claiming an annual turnover of Rs 1,300 crore. The dairy union collects nearly 7 lakh litres of milk a day. There are about 5 thousand primary rural milk societies and about 5 lakh milk producers connected to the union.
Independent sources say Mr Dongale had no choice but to bow out as his opponents were quoting the 97th amendment ad nauseam to his embarrassment.