The high-profile cooperator from Bihar, who belonged to the top league of national cooperative leaders in Delhi, Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh, lost both his chairmanship of the state marketing co-op federation (Biscomaun) and his MLC status last Friday.
While the office of the Central Registrar appointed an Administrator in Biscomaun following the Central Election Authority’s cancellation of the election process, Bihar’s Upper House expelled RJD MLC Sunil Kumar Singh after he was charged with “insulting” Nitish Kumar by “mimicking” his style of speaking and mannerism.
The development raised eyebrows as it was the first time a Member of the Legislative Council had been expelled for “mimicking” a sitting chief minister.
In the matter of Biscomaun, the Ministry’s order appoints Kanhaiya Prasad Shrivastava (Retd. IAS-2010) as an administrator. The administrator is appointed for a period not exceeding six months from the date of the order (25th July 2024) to manage the affairs and conduct the elections as per provisions of the MSCS Act and Rules.
Biscomaun board’s term expired on 24th June 2024, and as of now, no board existed. The election process was cancelled by the Election Authority when it realized that some of the amended bylaws were not approved by the Central Registrar before the elections.
According to the order copy, “The Administrator shall, subject to the control of the Central Government and to such instructions as it may from time to time give, have power to exercise all or any of the functions of the board or of any officer of the BISCOMAUN and take all such actions as may be required in the interest of the BISCOMAUN.”
“The Administrator shall, before the expiry of his term of office, arrange for the constitution of a new board in accordance with the bye-laws of the BISCOMAUN,” it reads.
It further added, “If, at any time during the period the Administrator is in office, the Central Government considers it necessary or expedient to do so, it may, by order in writing giving reasons, direct the Administrator to arrange for the constitution of a new board for BISCOMAUN in accordance with its bye-laws and immediately on the constitution of such board, the administrator shall hand over the management of BISCOMAUN to such newly constituted board and cease to function.”
It bears recalling that Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh has stalled the process of the elections for the Board of Directors of Biscomaun, with the primary reason cited for this action being the ambiguity regarding the federation’s revised bye-laws.
Meanwhile, Sunil Singh has taken to social media, vowing to continue the fight. The political tussle between RJD and JDU at the state level has had its fallout on Sunil’s career, both political and cooperative.