By Ajay Jha
The storm created in the wake of the election in the apex cooperative body NCUI seems to have blown over. What seems to have emerged finally is that Chandra Pal Singh Yadav is set to lead for the second time. Yadav, a Samajwadi party MP is going to win hands down as an overwhelming support of the 17 members elected in the absence of any challenger in this election is in his favour.
The drama surrounding this election made even bollywood plot look uninteresting. On the day of withdrawal while musclemen swarmed the headquarters, one of the outgoing GC members Ashok Dabas rushed to Hauz Khas Police station seeking forces to oversee the voting.
Talking to Indian Cooperative Dabas said “the Returning officer is not accepting my complaint saying this is Sunday but he fails to explain as to what he is doing himself in the office. This election is taking place under a reign of terror.”
But his detractors blame Dabas for vitiating the cooperative spirit of the movement. “He took the senior leaders of BJP for a ride by falsely convincing them that BJP-supported candidates could win 12 seats. He even convinced them of his capabilities to take on the mighty Yadav- Chandra Pal for the top slot. There was total hotchpotch created by his political immaturity for which BJP had to suffer ultimately”, said Sunil Singh, Biscomaun Chairman whom Paresh Patel and Gopal Giri nick-named king-maker for this election.
Most of the old guards are back and they are going to support Chandra Pal- Bijender Singh, Sivasadan Nair, G H Amin, H K Patil, to name only a few. “His re-election is as sure as the fact that one who is born will die”, said Sunil Singh with a poetic touch.
Though there is contest for three seats on Monday, Thakur from Himanchal State Cooperative Union is going to win, said an insider. The main fight is thus restricted to two constituencies represented by Dabas and Mudit Verma in the outgoing Governing Council.
Dabas’s constituency has about 13 votes and he is shaky about those delegates who come from Uttar Pradesh. It is obvious that since Chandra Pal is a senior SP leader from the State and as Dabas has fallen out with him, things would not be easy for the latter.
The trickiest voting to unfold on Monday would be in the category of “Others” where finally the contest has got restricted between Mudit Verma and Pramod Kumar Singh. Indian Cooperative has learnt that even the inseparable duo of Chandra Pal and Bijender Singh have different take on the matter. While Chandra Pal though close to Pramod also, is in favour of Mudit Verma for old time sake , Bijender Singh is advocating Pramod’s candidature.
Indian cooperative has gathered that the new Governing Council of the apex body would be no different from its earlier avatar with the Chairman and the two vice-chairmen of outgoing GC re-occupying their positions. “Does it not look great that you have a chairman who belongs to the Samajwadi party and a vice-chairman –each from the BJP and the Congress? Co-operative politics transcends party politics, concluded Sing Singh in a preacher’s tone.
