The National Cooperative Union of India’s final list of eligible voters came out on Monday late evening. Out of 250 voters only 132 are eligible to cast their votes during the election which is scheduled for 23rd November 2020.
Besides, the nomination of 35 delegates have been found to be invalid in accordance with the provisions under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act and Rules 2020 and Bye-laws of NCUI. The nominations were rejected on the ground of pending dues, incomplete documents etc.
Several high-profile co-operators whose nominations were rejected include, UP State Co-op Bank Chairman Tejveer Singh, Jharkhand State Co-op Bank Chairman Abhay Kant Prasad, Telangana State Coop Apex Bank President K Ravinder Rao, Indian Labour Cooperative Society Director Arun Singh Tomar and others.
Monday was a day of high activities at NCUI where leaders from various parts of the country had come to ensure their name in the final list of eligible voters. Indian Cooperative representative saw several such leaders including outgoing President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav and Ashok Dabas at the NCUI headquarters in Delhi, to name only a few.
This is perhaps the first election in the history of NCUI when BJP has an edge with majority of state unions being run by its members. Besides, Sahakar Bharati–a body though not directly connected to BJP but to RSS, is also going a play a decisive role in the elections, say sources.
It is reliably learnt that senior leaders of Sahakar Bharati– Satish Marathe and Uday Joshi are camping in the town. The duo intends to ensure that a sufficient number of Sahakar Bharati members should be there in the eligible voters’ list so that they can get their representatives elected to the Governing council of the NCUI.
According to sources, more than two dozen Sahakar Bharati members figure in the final list. Besides, the duo of Marathe and Joshi are active meeting co-operators to solicit their support. This may not only upset the chances of Pramod Singh of multi-state constituencies but also that of outgoing President Chandra Pal Singh who may find a smaller number of his supporters in the Governing Council of the apex body after the elections, added source.
There is also uncertainty about Ashok Dabas winning the election because outgoing director Gurupratap Singh Khushalpur may seek re-election.
Meanwhile, the victory of Pradeep Kumar, Chairman of Uttarakhand Pradeshik Cooperative Union and a close associate of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is a forgone conclusion as there is no rival against him.
It bears recall that NCUI has about 16 Board seats for which elections are supposed to be held. But the main contests revolve around four seats where there are too many voters as well as too many contestants. The Multi state co-op societies is one such constituency, others being Sugar, Labour and fisheries co-ops.
Returning Officer Sunil Kumar, Additional MD of agricultural co-operative Nafed is likely to release the election schedule today. According to a source, the nominations for elections may begin from November 17.