Though the complete list of candidates by the two major parties-BJP and Congress are yet to be announced for the Lok Sabha elections 2019, there is a growing feeling among cooperators that the sector is going to be poorly represented in the new House.
Going by the lists released so far, few cooperators find their names. The glaring exclusions are Dileepbhai Sanghani who was ignored by the BJP Central leadership and Vitthal Radadiya who is too ill to fight the elections.
Talking to Indian Cooperative G H Amin, senior cooperator of Gujarat said that Congress has just named 3-4 candidates and BJP has released names of just 15 sitting MPs in the state so it is too early to conclude either way, he added.
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka are three major states where co-op movement is pretty strong and where co-operatives may show their strength, confessed several cooperators.
There are news reports, however, coming in from several states where names of cooperators in the fray are doing the rounds. Maharashtra Congress declared that Chairman of Ajantha Urban Cooperative Bank and MLC Subhash Zambad would be its candidate for Lok Sabha polls from Aurangabad.
From Karnataka there is speculations that Sri Hiranyakeshi Sugar Factory and District Central Cooperative Bank President and MP Ramesh Katti and a cooperator and active member of Sahakar Bharati Annasaheb Jolle would get the ticket from Chikkodi, Karnataka.
On Porbandar seat, Jayesh Radadiya may replace his father Vitthal Radadiya.
However, the fate of former MP of Lok Sabha from Samajwadi Party from Jhansi and NCUI President Chandra Pal Singh Yadav is yet to be decided. Currently a member of Rajya Sabha, Yadav returned from Lucknow to Delhi Sunday evening. His supporters say the list would be finalized in the next couple of days. Luckily, Jhansi has fallen in SP fold and either Chandra Pal or his son Yashpal may be nominated from here.
The elections will start on April 11 and continue till May 19. The counting will be held on May 23. The polling would be held in 7 phase. Nearly 90 crore voters will be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country. With the announcement of dates the moral code of conduct comes into force immediately.
(with inputs from Rohit Gupta)