The elections to the 19-District Central Cooperative Banks of Bihar were held on Wednesday which threw up a few surprises, though the majority of old co-op satraps retained their seats. The results were announced on the same day.
The biggest setback was the defeat of Vishnudev Rai from Vaishali DCCB for whom the RJD cadre had fought hard. It is said that even RJD Supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was keen on his victory. But cooperative politics is a different ball game altogether , leaders learn the hard way.
Another noteworthy defeat was that of Vimal Shukla from Sitamarhi for whom the JDU cadre was put to test. Defeat of Bhagwati Prasad from Bettiah was no less surprising. Manoj Yadav from Khagaria could also not save his seat this time. The defeat of Hiralal from Purnea was also shocking for many.
Though Ramesh Chaubey’s phone was unreachable, Biscomaun Chairman and prominent co-operator from the state, Sunil Kumar Singh asserted that out of 19 DCCBs, seventeen have more or less gone to the old satraps. Sunil played a crucial role by phoning chairmen of PACS seeking their support for his associates.
The well-known co-operator Ramesh Chaubey has been elected again for the third term as the Chairman of Sasaram District Cooperative Bank. Similarly, Guddi Devi, wife of Ranjit Kumar alias Munna Singh, retained her seat and was again elected as the Chairperson of Nawada District Cooperative Bank. Devi won by 13 votes.
Chandrika Yadav was elected as her deputy.
Readers would recall that earlier, Mahesh Rai, Satyendra Narayan Singh and Amarnath Pandey had been elected unopposed as the Chairman of Gopalganj, Ara and Muzaffarpur DCCB respectively.
Sudharshan Prasad Singh has been elected as the Chairman of Motihari DCCB defeating the outgoing rival Dilip kumar Yadav with 85 votes. Mintu Devi has been elected as the Chairperson of Munger District Cooperative Bank. She won the election by 17 votes. Shrikant Yadav was elected as the Vice-Chairman.
Sudhir Mishra has been elected as the Chairman of Vaishali DCCB defeating his rival Vishnudeo Rai. Mishra got 163 votes while Rai received 121 votes. Manoj Kumar Singh and Vinod Kumar Rai have been elected as the Chairman of Siwan DCCB and Samastipur DCCB respectively.
Jitendra Kumar and Shahin Kalam have been elected as the Chairman of Bhagalpur and Katihar District Cooperative Bank respectively. In the election of Rohika Central Cooperative Bank, Raman Singh was elected as the Chairman and Dev Kumar Yadav as his
deputy. Singh won the election with 32 votes.
RJD MLA from Gurua constituency, Vinay Yadav has been elected as the Chairman of Magadh DCCB. Santosh Kumar was elected as the Chairman of Bettiah Central Cooperative Bank. Kumar got 154 votes while his rival Bhagwati Prasad received 76 votes.
In the keenly fought election of Khagaria DCCB, Akhilesh Vidyarthi got elected as the Chairman of the DCCB defeating his rival with one vote. Vidyarthi got 46 votes whereas his rival Manoj Yadav received 45 votes. Mintu Devi has been elected as the Chairperson of Munger District Cooperative Bank. She won the election by 17 votes. Shrikant Yadav was elected as the Vice-Chairman.
The elections to the state co-op banks are not likely to be a tame affair with three top leaders—Ramesh Chaubey, Mahesh Rai and the formidable Satyendra Singh in the race.
