The disagreement between BJP and NCP on the issue of cooperative reforms came out in the open when NCP supremo Sharad Pawar shared the stage with Maharashtra chief minister Fadnavis at an event in Pune.
Pawar said the present govt was intent on sabotaging the cooperative sector – a comment that provoked Fadnavis into saying the govt was just taking steps to check graft and irregularities in cooperatives.
According to a DNA report, a serious disagreement is simmering between the ruling BJP and the opposition NCP-Congress combine over the cooperative movement in Maharashtra. While the former insists on carrying out reforms in the cooperative banking sector as per the directions of the RBI, the latter accuses the ruling party of destroying the cooperative sector in the name of reforms.
Sources say any move to revamp the cooperative sector in Maharashtra sends alarm bells ringing in the NCP-Congress combine as their whole politics is dependent on the control exercised over the network of cooperatives by them, sources claim.
Earlier, the Maharashtra government disallowed former tainted directors of Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank from contesting the bank elections for ten years. The state cabinet has approved an ordinance to amend the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, to implement this decision.
The decision made by Cooperation Minister Chandrakant Patil, has, however, been attacked by the opposition charging it violated provisions of the Cooperatives Act.
The decision will apply to all banks whose board of directors has been dissolved as per the Reserve Bank of India’s directions and are facing inquiry for mismanagement of funds and illegal transactions. The dismissed directors will be ineligible to contest elections as a director not just in the concerned bank but in any other bank in the state for a total two terms.
A majority of cooperative banks are controlled by Congress and NCP leaders. Senior Congress and NCP leaders such as Ashok Chavan, Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil, Patangrao Kadam, and NCP’s Ajit Pawar, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Dilip Walse Patil have been actively involved in politics of the district cooperative banks. Interestingly, Pandurang Phundkar from the BJP and Shiv Sena’s Anandrao Adsul, who were on the board of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank with several other Congress and NCP leaders, including Pawar, may also be barred from contesting cooperative elections.