Cooperative politics is very interesting as it witnesses the shift of power in a most unlikely manner. Virendra Singh, Chairman of NCCF must be thanking his stars for the windfall he got through the declining clouts of Nafed and its leadership.
Elected as Chairman , more than a couple of years ago, Virender Singh was taken hostage by his own Board dominated by his adversary Vishal Singh, the son of late Ajit Singh. The race for the top job was so intense that NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh had to intervene to bring truce between them.
It was rumoured that an arrangement of revolving powers has been worked out in which half the tenure of Chairmanship would go to Virendra Singh and the other half to Vishal Singh. True or not, Virendra Singh was spared the eventuality of this kind as the jinx of Nafed was on Vishal.
Bijender Singh, the strong man of Nafed and a member of the NCCF Board, always stood by Vishal. To top it,Chandra Pal Singh also nurtured fatherly affection for the young Vishal who lost his father when he was still a boy.
There were many occasions in the NCCF Board meeting when Virendra Singh would be reduced to a mere spectator while Vishal and his sympathizers would call the shots. once, a few people appointed by the Chairman as advisors were asked to quit and Virendra Singh could nothing.
But the Nafed jinx has not only weakened Vishal but also robbed Bijender Singh of much of his strength.
There are still issues that are vexing Birendra Singh. Some of the top ranking officials are also trying to have a go at the cooperative politics by siding with this or that group. They seem intent on their own selfish considerations while uncertainty surrounds the future of the cooperative leadership.
This has led to delay in many of the projects of NCCF in the past. Hope an invigorated Chairman would take calls, pressing urgently on the apex consumer cooperative body sooner than later.
