Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday strongly criticised the BJP over its political maneuvering to gain control of the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, popularly known as Gokul Dairy. He accused the BJP of using ‘dirty tricks’ and using state power to avoid accepting a legitimate electoral defeat.
In a sharp social media post on X, Thackeray slammed the ruling party’s actions, calling it an attempt to overturn a democratic mandate. He also criticised the move to add five government nominees to the cooperative’s board, saying that the BJP should accept the outcome of an election conducted through secret ballot. “If you genuinely respected and cared about democracy, you would never have resorted to such a move,” Thackeray wrote.
In the recent ballot elections for the Gokul Dairy board, the opposition Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samavichari Aghadi panel (backed by Congress leader Satej Patil) won a democratic majority of 13 out of 25 seats. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance fell short, securing 12 seats. Despite the result, the chairman’s post remains vacant because meetings to elect a chairman have failed to meet the required quorum of 14 directors.
However, the state cabinet decision on November 4 altered cooperative laws and appointed five government directors, four of them with voting rights, to the Gokul milk union, a move Patil alleged is designed to overturn the recent election mandate.
Thackeray questioned why the government sought to introduce voting nominees after the BJP-backed panel fell short of a majority. He described the move as an attempt to avoid accepting defeat and accused the party of abandoning its principles to secure control of the dairy.
The MNS chief’s remarks came a day after Congress leader Satej Patil has sparked a political controversy by accusing the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra of attempting to capture the Gokul Dairy, and eventually hand it over to Gujarat’s Amul.
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP has a broader ‘sinister plot’ to systematically eliminate regional milk brands, leaving only Amul and Mother Dairy in the Indian market. He claimed that the government’s intervention is aimed at slapping an ‘Amul sticker’ over the locally trusted Gokul brand.
Patil also announced that a protest march would be taken out on November 9 from Dasara Chowk to the district collector’s office in Kolhapur to protest the government ordinance.
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