The election process for the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks Ltd. (NAFSCOB) has entered a key phase, with the Returning Officer issuing the detailed programme for election of the federation’s 21-member Board of Directors.
NAFSCOB has 33-member State Cooperative Banks (StCBs), while the provisional list of eligible voters published on Wednesday contains 25 StCBs and their nominated delegates.
The eight member banks not appearing in the provisional list are Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tripura. Five of these, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, are from the northeastern region or its broader regional grouping.
The absence of some of the member banks appears to be linked to procedural and eligibility requirements for participation in the election. In the case of Tripura State Cooperative Bank, no Board resolution nominating a representative appears to have been submitted, and consequently no delegate’s name figures in the provisional voter list.
Manipur State Cooperative Bank also does not figure in the list; sources indicate that the bank has outstanding membership-related requirements with NAFSCOB and has not participated in recent AGMs, factors that may have affected its eligibility for inclusion in the provisional list.
The 25 banks included in the provisional list are from Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the provisional list shows Bijender Singh from the Delhi State Cooperative Bank, Ajay Patel from the Gujarat State Cooperative Bank, K N Rajanna from the Karnataka State Cooperative Apex Bank, Vidyadhar Vamanrao Anaskar from the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, and Bishwajit Phukan from the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank.
Members have been given an opportunity to raise objections to the provisional list from October 5 to 9, between 11 AM and 3 PM. Scrutiny of objections is scheduled from October 12 to 16, with the final voter list due on October 16.
The nomination process for the 21 Board seats will run from October 21 to 28. Scrutiny will take place on October 29, followed by withdrawal on October 30 and publication of the final list of contesting candidates the same evening.
Polling, if necessary, is scheduled for November 5 from 8 AM to 4 PM, with counting immediately after polling. The Board election result is to be declared on or before November 13.
The newly constituted Board will subsequently elect the federation’s office-bearers. The schedule provides for the office-bearer election process on November 16, followed by the Board meeting and secret-ballot election on November 17. The result is to be declared on or before November 21.
The District Collector and Magistrate, Thane, is the Returning Officer, while the Deputy Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Thane, is the Assistant Returning Officer. The election is being conducted under the relevant provisions of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, and NAFSCOB’s bye-laws.
The previous NAFSCOB Board’s term expired on December 28, 2025, making the forthcoming election significant for the constitution of the federation’s new governing body.
