PACS Elections: CM must intervene

One man can effect long-term change. T N Seshan changed the rule of elections in India which till recently were marred by incidents of booth-capturing, bogus voting and officials openly taking sides. General elections were freed of unscrupulous elements but the same is not true of the cooperative elections yet.

Barring a few exception, cooperatives as a rule appoint a Returning Officer of their choice, prepare voters’ list at the behest of power that be,  and hobnob with the officials to favour a chosen few. Much is needed here to strengthen the cooperative movement in the true sense of the word.

The latest case is from the state of Bihar where even constituting an Election Authority seems not to make any difference. The elections to the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies continue to hog the headlines. On Wednesday a Block Development Offcer (BDO) was arrested with Rs 20 thousand cash.

Shesh Kumar is the BDO of Tempkuppas block in the Gaya district. He is accused of deleting and adding names in the voter list of PACS election in connivance with some cooperative mafias.

One of the affected PACS candidates complained to Vigilance Department that the BDO is accepting bribe to the tune of Rs 50 thousand for changing the names in the voter list. The police party raided the residence of the BDO and discovered Rs 20 thousand in cash from him. Later Police arrested him.

In yet another case member of cooperative societies led a protest in the Vaishali district accusing the local cooperative officials of indulging into hanky panky in the voters’ list. The agitated crowds assembled at Hajipur-Saraiya highway leading to a complete halt of vehicular movement on the road.

A few days ago farmers were up in arms in the Mahua block of the district as they complained of deletion of their names from the voter list at the behest of government official.

The election is scheduled for 16th of September, about a couple of days from now. Farmers say that their names are not in the list as a gang of thugs are active defeating the spirit of democracy.

In majority of cases the agitated farmers accuse the BDO of being hand in glove with the cooperative officials and mafias while the Election Authority just looks sideways.

The Chief Minister of Bihar Jeetan Ram Manjhi would do a yeoman’s job if he carries the legacy of Nitish Kumar forward. Kumar was one of the first Chief Ministers to set up a Cooperative Election Authority even before 97^th constitutional amendment was passed.